Hidden in Shadow
by Zanza the warrior of shadows
Summary: There was no Uchiha clan massacre, there is a Higurashi clan, and there is rivalry. Pairing undecided.
1. Graduation

Here is another fiction I wanted to try out. It is experimental and I want feed back before I continue. But know that I do not own either Inuyasha or Naruto.

_Chapter 1: Graduation_

She was walking down the hall, her book open as she read the chapter. It was a book from the clan library on advanced jutsu. It was a requirement for those in her clan to read and master advanced jutsu, though it was usually when they were older. She was only eleven and she had to start now. She did not want to disappoint her clan.

A girl ran into her roughly. It looked like she was to be sent sprawling across the floor, but at the last second she shifted her body and flickered out of sight before reappearing two feet away, nose still in her book. She kept walking, surprising a few teachers and a lot of the students. There were a few that were able to move like that, and they were usually ANBU.

'One technique down,' she thought to herself as she turned and walked into the classroom. She took her seat in the back, her limp, dull hair hiding the parts of her face the book didn't hide. The crest of a pink jewel cradled by a dark blue moon was seen on her back, giving away what clan she belonged to. She didn't really care if anyone saw it.

"They are talking about that dull little ugly duckling," a pink haired girl said as she walked in with a blonde haired blue eyed female. "I mean, what they say cannot be true."

"I know. Only ANBU can move the way they said she moved." They looked up to see the one they were talking about sitting in the back right corner of class. Her face was in a book like usual, though no one ever knew what it was she read. "I mean, she's so skinny and pale looking, and her chakra is so low." They hurried to their seats when the teacher walked in.

"Now you all know that the graduation exams are next week. That being said, there will be two parts, a written test and the performance test. The performance portion will be on the kage bushin no jutsu. Study up." The bell rang signaling the end of classes for the day.

* * *

She stood, nose still in the book and started out of class. The blonde and pink haired females scheming. They tripped her and waited for her to meet the ground face first but gasped when she didn't.

"Advanced jutsu number twenty-seven, the body flicker technique," she whispered. She had vanished and now stood, her back to them. "It really is childish for you to go around tripping people," she said softly. "You really could hurt someone." And she continued walking. She was soon out of sight.

"So it was true," the blonde said, eyes still trained in the direction of which she left.

"So what? It doesn't matter anyway. It isn't like any guy likes her." The pinkette started home. "I'll see you later, Ino."

"Bye, Sakura." Ino left too.

* * *

She looked to her mother and father. She had put her book away because it would be rude of her to ignore her parents as they spoke to her.

"You shouldn't focus on a technique that is so childish," her mother lectured.

"But the body flicker technique isn't childish," she tried to reason. "It helps you evade an enemies attack quickly."

"It takes up too much chakra," her father interrupted. "Chakra that can be better used on better techniques, like the cutting wind jutsu, or even the fire dragon technique." He looked at his daughter in her dull blue eyes, so different from his and his wife's brilliant brown eyes. "Just focus on a different, more useful technique."

"Hai, tousan." She bowed and left knowing she had been dismissed.

* * *

He knew a strong kunoichi. That Higurashi brat was strong, but ugly and not worth his time. He had better things to do, like practice the fireball jutsu his clan was so known for. That was their initiation. He had passed but he still needed to practice. He could not afford to fail if he was to catch up with his aniki in technique and power. Yes, his brother was his idol and rival.

* * *

He panicked. The kage bushin no jutsu was his worst technique. There was no way he was going to pass. He would have to practice day and night to get it right, but his energy stores would be low after words. He sighed, knowing he should get started with practicing. He had to master it in a week if he was going to become the Hokage.

* * *

She knew the next technique she wished to master. It was similar to the forbidden kage bushin no jutsu, but not banned and only the Higurashi clan learned it. She knew that defensive techniques were needed to succeed in missions. Though her father and mother yelled at her for learning defensive techniques. And easy techniques had to be learned in order to learn harder techniques. It also helped in developing the chakra. She had a low amount of chakra now but chances are that it would increase when she hit puberty, like it did with every Higurashi clan member.

She sighed and got to practicing. Yes, she knew the school house kage bushin no jutsu, but she preferred using the other kage bushin no jutsu, the one the clan used. Yes, it was harder to master, but the body flicker was supposed to be hard as well, but she mastered that in a little over a week, so she figured she would be able to do the same for the kage bushin no jutsu. The day before the final exam she would rest to restore the chakra spent on extra practice. She did not think anyone was as driven as her.

* * *

Day of the graduation exams

She waited patiently for her name to be called. They had already taken the written exam, which she knew she passed, and was now waiting to perform her mastered kage bushin no jutsu. They had decided to have them perform it in front of everyone else. She wasn't nervous, already having mastered other advanced techniques. The adobansu kage bushin no jutsu was going to be her pride for today. It was either that or the kagewoutsusu bushin no jutsu. Both she had already mastered.

"Higurashi Kagome," Iruka sensei had called.

"Hai." She stood and approached, a coin in hand. If it landed on heads she'd use the adobansu kage bushin no jutsu, tails would be kagewoutsusu bushin no jutsu. She quickly flipped the coin and caught it, both being so fast as to elude the eyes in the class. She looked at the coin to see it was tails. She smirked. She could easily do the hand signs.

"Proceed!" She nodded.

She quickly went through the hand signs, eyes opening. "Advanced technique number forty-five, kagewoutsusu bushin no jutsu." There was no poof of smoke but she stepped back and in front of her stood an exact clone of her, right down to the same amount of chakra she had.

"Amazing," Iruka said, he walked around the clone and poked it to see that it didn't poof. "Though you still need another clone."

"No I don't," Kagome commented from the back of the class, the two clones still standing in a line before him. "Your eyes are getting slow, sensei," she commented.

"Well, you pass." Both clones shattered like a mirror after he said that.

Sakura, who had gone before her, was steaming mad. Kagome had out done her again and the eyes of the class were wide with shock. They had never seen a clone disappear like that. Usually it was a poof of smoke when they appeared and disappeared, but Kagome had stepped back and her clones appeared and they shattered.

He was impressed. It was not every day someone their age performed such jutsu. They were advanced and the clones had managed to have the same amount of chakra as her. It was unheard of. Usually the clones were weaker than the original. It would be useful in missions and hiding.

* * *

They had gone through everyone and now they had found out that only Uzamaki Naruto had failed. He was moping as everyone else talked and celebrated with their family and friends. He looked to see Kagome standing there and taking a scolding from her parents. They should have been proud of her. After all, she was able to perform advanced jutsu.

"What have I told you?" Her mother scolded. "No more weak, defensive jutsu. They are a waste of chakra." She didn't reply. "You really are a disgrace to the Higurashi clan."

Something in Kagome snapped. She flipped through hand signs quickly, her anger taking over. She was sick of her parents saying she was a disgrace and weak. "Dansu no kaji ryu." She breathed out and three large dragons wrapped around each other in a seeming dance before charging up into the sky. She turned and walked away from her shocked parents. She had better things to do then listen to her parents degrade her.

He scowled, both his parents going on and on about the ugly Higurashi that had made his kanton look like the light on a candle, compared to a raging inferno.

"Such a strong girl," his mother commented.

"She would make an excellent addition to the Uchiha line, if she wasn't so unattractive," his father added.

* * *

She panted after calling out "sho_netsujigoku gufu no jutsu." The whole surrounding area was drenched in fire. She cancelled out the jutsu and turned to go home. She needed her strength when she was assigned a team tomorrow.

Author's note and translations:

Adobansu kage bushin no jutsu: Literally means advanced shadow clone technique.

Kagewoutsusu bushin no jutsu: Mirror image clone technique. It copies everything about the user, including chakra levels.

Dansu no kaji ryu: Dance of the fire dragon.

Sho_netsujigoku gufu no jutsu: Inferno hurricane technique.

I will try to update my other stories later. Please review and tell me what you think. No pairing decided at this time.


	2. Survival Test

_Chapter 2: Survival Test_

She was sitting in class with the others. It had turned out that Naruto had somehow managed to pass in the end, which had upset many people. She didn't really care, after all, she had to train and get stronger. It was all she had going for her. Her parents were still not talking to her because of her display. She didn't much care. She was left to train in peace because of it.

"Now we will be putting you into teams. One team will have four members. Now…" They names went on until he called another team. "Team seven consists of Uzamaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura," This had Naruto cheering and Sakura sulking, "Uchiha Sasuke," the rolls had switched, "and Higurashi Kagome." The class was surprised, both Sakura and Sasuke were steaming at this. Sakura was steaming because she knew Kagome was going to make her look bad in front of Sasuke and Sasuke was steaming because Kagome made him look bad in front of his parents and brother.

"You are all to wait here until your sensei gets here." Iruka left and slowly but surely the class started to empty as jounin after jounin showed up. It was just them left in the end. Kagome was reading, Sasuke sat in a desk sulking, Sakura was getting anxious and Naruto was scheming.

"Naruto, if you do that I'm going to hit you with a lightning edge," Kagome warned from her book. "Don't think I won't." Naruto dropped the eraser and started to sulk as he sat back down in a desk. Sakura, who really wanted to see if the jounin would fall for it, glared at Kagome. Naruto wouldn't listen to her but he'd listen to a threat from Kagome that was more than likely untrue anyways.

The door slid open and in popped a head of silver hair. Three fourths of the face was covered by a mask and the headband. He slid it open even further before walking in. He closed the door behind him and looked at his four students. There was a black haired girl with her nose in a book, much like he usually is. The brooding Uchiha looked to be sulking, the pinkette looked upset and the blonde looked to be holding himself back. "My first impression of you four is, you are nothing special. Meet me on the roof." There was a poof of smoke, Kagome already gone and the other three fighting to get through the door.

He appeared on the roof to see the black haired girl already there, nose still in her book. He didn't think her to be that fast.

"How did you get up here so fast?" He mused aloud.

"The body flicker technique," she replied boredly.

"Usually academy level students wouldn't be able to use such techniques."

"So what? I saw an Uchiha use it and I figured I would learn it. It took a while but it was easy enough." At this time the other three appeared in the door way. They were panting. "Took you three long enough," she commented. She got a glare from all of them.

"Well, not that we all are here, why don't we do some introductions?"

"Introductions?"

"Yes. What you like, what you don't like, hobbies and dreams." They looked confused, except for Kagome, her nose was still in her book.

"Why don't you go first, sensei?" Sakura asked.

"My name is Hatake Kakashi. There are many things I like, and things I don't like, well it doesn't matter. As for dreams, I don't really care."

"We only found out his name," Sakura grumbled.

"We'll start with you," he pointed at Sakura.

"My name is Haruno Sakura and my dreams are… my hobbies are… What I like, well it's a person…" by now she was blushing and eyeing Sasuke. "And I hate Naruto and Kagome," she commented loudly. Naruto looked hurt but Kagome looked like she didn't care.

"Next."

"I am Uzamaki Naruto. I like to try different kinds of noodles to see which is best, I hate the three minutes you have to wait after putting in the water. My dream is to become the Hokage, believe it!"

"You." He pointed at Sasuke.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are few things I like and even more things I hate. My dream is not a dream but an aspiration. I want to be better and stronger than my brother, Uchiha Itachi."

"Okay. Last."

"Higurashi Kagome. I don't see how any of my likes, dislikes, or dreams is any of your business." Her nose never left the book.

'Great. I got a fan girl, an idiot, a boy with a brother complex, and' he looked at Kagome, 'I'm not even sure.' He sighed. "Meet me in training field three tomorrow morning and don't eat breakfast, or you will throw up." He was gone after that.

* * *

She woke bright and early and ate breakfast, even if she was told not to. Knowing her new sensei, which she heard all about, she knew he was going to be late so she took her time going to the training grounds. She was the last, aside from her sensei to show up, almost at ten. The others looked disgruntled and she was feeling refreshed, having ate an hour ago. Technically speaking it wasn't breakfast.

"So how long have you three been waiting for Kakashi?"

"You are late!" Sakura screamed at her.

"Not really. He never specified what time in the morning," Kagome stated. "I also heard he likes to show up late."

"And you didn't tell us this why?" Sakura screeched.

"Can you be anymore of a banshee?" Kagome asked, nose in her book. "I am standing right here after all." Sakura looked flabbergasted at the comment. "Close your mouth, you're going to catch flies." Sakura started to sputter. "For a brainiac, you aren't really all that smart. And you shouldn't let people get to you."

"Hello everyone," Kakashi said, interrupting what could have turned into a fight between Kagome and Sakura.

"You're late!" Naruto and Sakura exclaimed.

"Well a black cat was about to cross the road so I had to go all the way around," Kakashi stated.

"Liar!" They both yelled again.

"Can we get on with it?" Kagome asked, getting tired of hearing Sakura screech like a banshee.

"Ah yes. Today's mission is a survival exercise."

"Survival exercise? But we did those in the academy," Sakura tried to reason. "Why do we have to do those again?"

"This is a different type of survival exercise," Kakashi said. "This will see if you are really worthy to become genin. It has a sixty-six percent fail rate. Three of you will pass and the last one will go back to the academy."

"I cannot go back to the academy," Sasuke said, a glare on his face. If he went back to the academy, then he would be seen as a disgrace in his clan.

"Yes, well, then get one of these bells and you pass, simple as that. Whoever doesn't have a bell goes back to the academy. You have until noon to get a bell. If you fail to get a bell, you won't get to eat. You'll be tied to one of the posts, and in one of your guys' case if you all fail to get a bell, to a tree and you will watch me eat all of the lunches."

"That's why he didn't want us to eat breakfast," Sakura said.

"This is so cruel!" Naruto yelled. "You cannot do this to us."

"I already figured something like this was going to happen," Kagome stated. "I already know what this is about so can we start with this now?"

"Well, no need to draw this out any longer. So when I say we'll start. Be warned, in order to win you must come at me with everything you've got, and you have to be prepared to kill."

"But that is dangerous, we could hurt you," Sakura tried to reason.

"He was once an ANBU," Kagome started. "You are just a genin, so there would be no way you could possibly kill him." Sakura looked about ready to snap.

"And you can?"

"As much fun as it is to upset you, we have a task at hand," Kagome said in boredom. "Besides, I'm more skilled than I look." She closed her book and placed it in her pouch. "Wait, Naruto, don't jump in there just yet."

"But…"

"If you want to pass this test you will listen," she said, looking over her sensei.

"Fine," Naruto replied with a pout, arms crossed over his chest.

"Ready when you are, sensei," Kagome said, her sapphire eyes on him.

"Then let's start." Kagome sent Naruto a glare and he ran to hide, the other two already gone and hiding. Kagome vanished more effectively than they had. "Well, at least they know how to conceal themselves, though I can still sense them. That is with the exception to one." He looked at their hiding spaces.

* * *

Kagome knew she had to get the other three. Naruto she was sure would listen to her, Sakura would out right refuse to listen to her, and she might convince Sasuke to go with her plan. It was risky but she would have to try. She knew they were assigned teams for a reason and that they were put in these teams in order to balance each other out. She didn't know how this worked with her and Sakura. She would wonder that later. Right now she had to get the others.

She landed near Naruto and dragged him stealthily towards Sasuke, and she knew Sakura would be close by Sasuke. She dropped Naruto and placed wards to keep Kakashi from finding and hearing them. She always had one plastered to a part of her body in some way.

"If we are to beat Kakashi-sensei we will need a plan and we will need to do this together," she emphasized the together.

"Why would me or Sasuke want to work with you?" Sakura seethed.

"Your loss not mine," Kagome said, "aside from the fact I know how to pass this test. If you want to go back to the academy, fine with me." Sakura walked away, trying to drag Sasuke with her.

"I cannot go back to the academy," Sasuke said and pulled away from Sakura. "You can go if you want but I want to hear what she has to say."

"Fine," Sakura huffed and walked away.

"Now we will have to work together in order to pass."

"But Sakura," Naruto started.

"I offered to help her pass, she walked away from that." She looked Naruto in the eye. "Don't let your feelings get in the way, Naruto." He nodded. He wasn't happy about it but he would listen. "Now here is what we are going to do. Naruto, you are to distract Kakashi with some shadow harems. It should be enough to draw his attention for a few. I know distraction and that harem is your specialty. Sasuke, I want you to set up traps and trip wires. Make sure the wires are flammable and explosives are set up. Yes it is dangerous but needed. This is how I want it set up, but you have to do it stealthily and without Kakashi knowing. I trust you can do that." He nodded.

"What about you?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm going to steal us the bells when you set off the explosion," she said. "I can go around undetected well enough so it shouldn't be too difficult. I'll see if I can even restrain him for a few. Got it?" Both nodded. In Sasuke's opinion Naruto had the easy job and he had the hard job. But he'd do it.

* * *

Everything had gone according to plan and now Kakashi sat entrapped in an advanced earth binding jutsu, Kagome dangling a bell from her fingers, Naruto with a giant grin on his face, a bell in hand, and Sasuke with a giant smirk on his face, bell dangling from his crossed arms.

"So do we pass, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Where is Sakura?" Kakashi asked.

"Well, we don't know. She walked off when Kagome got us together to formulate our plan," Naruto answered. "She said she didn't want to work with Kagome, even though Kagome said she knew how to pass."

"Oh?" He looked at Kagome.

"We were put into teams for a reason," Kagome said. "Obviously they wanted us to work together."

"Ah, yes teamwork. The answer and the only way to pass the test." He smiled beneath his mask.

"Even if one of us failed, it was more for the good of the team then a single person. I figured having one less bell signified you wanted us to fight each other or do something for ourselves. You cannot do that on missions or you won't succeed."

"You pass." He held forth the lunch boxes. "Since Sakura didn't get a bell she gets no lunch." You could hear Sakura grumbling in the bushes. "You aren't allowed to give her any food." Kakashi left as Sakura entered the clearing.

"Looks like I failed," Sakura said.

"You should have just listened to Kagome," Naruto said.

"One of us still would have failed," Sakura said.

"I doubt it," Kagome said and placed her lunch in Sakura's hands after hearing her stomach grumble. "You need it more than I do."

"But…"

"I brought my own lunch," Kagome said, pulling a lunch from a bush. "Besides, a teammate doesn't shouldn't let their own starve. So what if Kakashi said not to give you food, I wouldn't be much of a teammate if I left you to starve, knowing you didn't have to. So shut up and eat already." She sat on top of the log.

"You went against my lords," Kakashi said as he appeared.

"So what? You know I would be lower than scum if I left my teammate in need."

He sighed. "That I do." He turned to Sakura. "What have you learned?"

"That teamwork is needed in order to accomplish missions and that I should not leave my teammates behind."

"Good. Maybe next time you'll be a team player. See you all tomorrow for our first missions." He was gone.

"I passed?" Sakura looked shocked.

"Looks like none of us is going back to the academy," Kagome said. "I'm going home." She was gone.

Author's note: So here is the next chapter. Part of it was rushed and part of it wasn't so sue me. I'll try to work on my other stores mañana.


	3. Missions

_Chapter 3: Missions_

She sighed after her shower. She had received another lecture from her parents about "weak defensive" jutsu. She was used to it, and more. There was much no one knew. Yes, she was a Higurashi clan member, yes, she was skilled in a lot of jutsu as everyone in the Higurashi clan was likely to be, yes, she was going to be great, but far too much was being pressed upon her young shoulders. She was eleven and in a year a lot was going to change. Things were rocky for her now because she was forced to undergo more training than people knew. She just wanted a break for once. It wasn't going to happen anytime soon though.

"Kagome, Kagome, the bird in the cage, when will you come out to play?" A voice asked. Yes, she truly felt trapped in a cage, more so now, with this figure pressing down upon her in what was supposed to be her sanctuary.

"Uncle," she spat out with as much venom and hate contained within her tiny body as possible.

He chuckled. Yes, he knew she hated him. And he knew she did not want him here within her private chambers. "You are so ugly and weak, such a pity you have to be leader of this clan when the time comes." He knew that calling her ugly and weak got to her. It was true that she had yet to hit puberty, but other members of the clan had more chakra at her age than she currently had. They weren't nearly as ugly either.

"What is wrong with me becoming the leader of this clan?" She refused to face him. She knew if she did face him, he'd only take advantage of her as he had so many times before. And no one believed her because he was so great. Not in her eyes. He was sadistic and did what he wanted when it suited him.

"We don't need a weak leader." He placed a hand on her shoulder, moving to spin her around so she would face him. He only received a glare when he had.

"Do not touch me," she nearly growled, a scowl set firmly on her face.

"You really should respect your elders," he snarled, slapping her across the face.

"You should respect those with a higher station," she said coldly. Yes, she was two different people and sometimes it scared her. She really couldn't understand why.

"Listen here, girl," he shoved her roughly against the wall, "I could make you wish you were never born, make you feel as if you were nothing, like you are just a toy. Do as I say and I might not have to hurt you too bad."

"Get off me," she snarled lowly, her eyes glaring at him and something telling her to rip off the arm of this man that dared to harm her. "If you do not I will tear you to shreds with my bare hands."

"Such a threat does not suit you." He stepped back sensing someone approaching.

"Naraku, what are you doing in Kagome's room?" Her mother asked. By the look on her daughter's face, she was uncomfortable and angry.

"I was simply congratulating her for graduating." He smirked at Kagome, crimson eyes holding such malice for her.

"You shouldn't be so rude to your uncle, Kagome," She scolded. Kagome said nothing, standing there as if she was in the wrong, and by the look on her mother's face, she was in the wrong.

"I'm going to go study." She left her room and the accusing eyes of her mother and the malicious eyes of her uncle. She would be glad when she could do missions away from the village for a change.

* * *

He had the files for his students in front of him. He wanted to see if there were any problems in class for them and to see just how well they did in class. He was going to start with Naruto's then end with Kagome's. Yes, he was most curious about her and he figured he would spend the most time looking over her slightly thicker folder.

He opened the file and looked up Naruto's graduating rank. He was dead last. It seemed his taijutsu was okay, but he possessed little to no skill when it came to genjutsu, and his ninjutsu could use some improvement. He was a jokester and didn't listen. He often played pranks and got caught for them. So he seemed exactly like the fox that was trapped inside his body.

He closed Naruto's file and opened Sakura. She was the second ranked female, somewhere near the middle for over ranking for the class. It said she spent a lot of time swooning over one Uchiha Sasuke, but she was smart. Her taijutsu was lacking, she could break the simplest genjutsu and only knew the basic, school house ninjutsu. She wasn't exactly anything special.

He sighed and closed that record. He opened Sasuke to see that he was the top male in his class but second rank over all. There was a comment about Sasuke distancing himself from others. He was excellent at taijutsu, could break a few of the harder genjutsu, and could perform a fire style jutsu, his clans specialty, the kanton. It stated that he would have been amazing if he was not stuck in the shadow of his older brother Itachi.

He closed that file and opened the one he wished most to read. It stated that she was rank one in her class and was the kunoichi of the year. It stated that she was capably of breaking and reversing even the most skilled jounin's genjutsu. He also knew that she was fully capable of performing the body flicker technique. It also showed that she was skilled in taijutsu, never being defeated in any school house spars. And he had seen her perform a few advanced fire techniques, making the kanton look almost like a harmless ember. It also stated that she had shown advanced clone jutsu, performing a difficult one in order to graduate, making it more than obvious she was the top of the class. She had the makings of being one of the best ANBU Konoha would know. He had questions he wanted to ask the Hokage regarding one Higurashi Kagome.

* * *

She knew Kakashi was going to be late, again. She had seen him walking towards the Hokage's office with a file in hand. She didn't much care, instead making it to where they were supposed to meet with Kakashi. Sakura and Naruto looked like they were about to fall asleep as they leaned against a tree, Sasuke looked bored out of his mind. They jumped awake and turned to her quickly.

"Kakashi-sensei is going to be late again," Kagome said and the looked to be sweat dropping. "When I saw him this morning he was headed to the Hokage's tower. He might be a while." They resumed their positions as Kagome seemed to start a few workouts. She figured she could at least train until Kakashi got here with whatever they were supposed to do today.

* * *

"Kakashi?" The Hokage said upon seeing the silver haired jounin.

"Why was Higurashi Kagome not sent to the training course for ANBU?" He looked almost serious.

"Her parents didn't want her to go to the ANBU training course. As for why, I'm not really sure." He looked Kakashi in the eye. "There is a lot this village doesn't know, especially about Kagome. There is still much we do not understand."

"What are you hiding about Kagome?"

"That I cannot tell you. It is to be kept secret, even from our own village." He sighed. "Enjoy the year you will have with her on the team. At twelve she is to undergo intense training, as all Higurashi clan members do. She will be far away from the village when that does happen."

"Hokage?"

"She will be a different person when she returns, Kakashi. One cannot say how different or if it will be good or bad."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." He dropped the file on the Hokage's desk and left. He had to go get his team for their missions.

* * *

The missions were easy. Right now she was with the others walking dogs. Naruto, of course took the biggest dog even though she told him not to. It ended up dragging him through a restricted zone. Of course the dogs Sakura and Sasuke were not walking she got stuck with, but they were content to walk slightly behind her without leashes, their eyes on her. The dogs whined when the walking was over.

The picking out trash from the river was easy until Naruto fell in. Sasuke got him out of course. Naruto had pulled everything out of his portion of the garden. Kagome spent a lot of time replanting them as the lady yelled at him. When she was done, it looked better than before and she took the weeds they had pulled out. They would be useful in the medicine she wanted to practice making. The cat had been easy enough. It avoided capture but was finally captured.

"Ma'am, perhaps you shouldn't smother the cat so much. It might stop running away if you did so." The woman threw her nose in the air and walked away, the cat with tears in it's eyes. She sighed. "Poor cat."

"You are sympathizing with a cat," Sakura said, still acting a bit rude to Kagome.

"I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want to be smothered by a large woman like that," Kagome said.

"She has a point, Sakura," Kakashi said. They heard a distressed yowl from what they could have sworn was the cat.

* * *

She stood listening to Naruto talk about ramen, Sakura and Sasuke also listening.

"Naruto!" Iruka bellowed.

"What! I'm tired of all these easy missions. Give us something harder," he complained.

"Preferably away from the village," Kagome said.

"Very well. You have an escort mission. Bring him in." The doors opened and in stepped a drunken bridge builder. "Your mission is to escort him to his village and protect him until the completion of the bridge."

"These are them." He looked them over. After a few comments and Naruto's out burst, they were dismissed to get ready for the mission. Kagome glad she would be leaving the village for a while. She needed to get away.

They started out from the village, Naruto grinning and Kagome looked more relaxed. Sakura was smiling and Sasuke had a smirk. At least they had a harder mission.

Author's Note: There were a few questions that were asked. Someone brought up that I didn't bring up any character flaws, but sometimes flaws cannot be seen right away and before this chapter only half of Kagome was revealed, the part of her everyone sees. This part brought forth a part no one, including her family sees. And yes, the plot thickens.

As for the pairing, I don't have one set and in my opinion, not to offend any Sasuke fans, he comes off to me as an emo bitch. So sue me. Itachi is a favorite of man, as is Kakashi, but as I said. I haven't decided on a pairing as of yet. I'm still working with the story line but within the next few chapters more should be revealed.

Continue reading. Hopefully it continues to get good.


	4. Part of the Truth

_Chapter 4: Part of the Truth_

She looked at the puddle, knowing something was going to come up. Yes, she could pick up the chakra signal and saw Kakashi glance at the puddle from his book. She knew that he knew something was up. She would be on high alert. Any sign of a slip and she would quickly do whatever was needed to stop the threat.

She heard chains and the slice. Sakura turned and screamed as the others moved closer to the bridge builder. She didn't worry, sensing the shift in chakra. A substitution jutsu. She was able to recognize it from anywhere, though she knew he made it so that it wouldn't turn into a log right away. He had this planned out and she would make sure no one was harmed too terribly.

The fight was quick and in no time Sasuke had the chain pinned. They released the chain and went to attack Naruto but in a flash Kakashi caught both of them in head locks. He had both tied to a tree. They quickly figured out the whole truth to the bridge builder and Naruto dramatically extracted the poison from his hand. A few discoveries surrounding Naruto was revealed to Kakashi, and unknowingly Kagome.

* * *

They had made it to the village after a run in with a man named Zabuza. Kagome had stayed back with Sakura to defend the bridge builder while Naruto and Sasuke planned a way to save Kakashi. It was Naruto's thinking that saved Kakashi, a tracker nin was what took him down but she knew it was just a ploy. Zabuza was still alive but they needed to recover their strength before they fought again.

"Zabuza isn't dead," Kagome said and they all looked at her.

"What are you talking about? Kakashi sensei verified that he was dead," Sakura said.

"Senbons are really hard to kill with, and the known area that was the target was a pressure point. Both combined and one can seem dead and their pulse would stop for a few. Tracker nins are supposed to burn the bodies right were they are killed instead of moving the body, isn't that right, Kakashi-sensei?"

"Kagome is right." He was on crutches.

"He needs to recover from the fight with Kakashi-sensei and more so with that fake death. He'll be back and we need to be prepared." Kagome looked serious. There was no way they could defeat Zabuza or that tracker nin. Tracker nin were said to be extremely strong and skilled, almost similar to Konoha's ANBU. "I'm going to go train." She walked away from them and into the surrounding forest. She knew that they would leave her alone. Sasuke couldn't stand her, Sakura hated her, and Naruto would only bug her if there was a fight. The only one she could see actually following her was Kakashi but he was injured and would need to rest.

"Come, you can all stay at my house," the bridge builder said. "one of you will have to go get her when it's dinner time." He opened the door and they walked in. There was a woman and a small boy in the house. They had made introductions and when the woman shooed them to get ready for dinner did and argument spring up.

"You go get her, Naruto," Sakura said.

"Why do I have to get her? Why can't Sasuke or you get her?"

"Because I said so," Sakura snapped back. "What are you so afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid," he said. "I think you and Sasuke are the ones that are afraid," he retorted. He was starting to wonder why he liked her. She was always so mean to him.

Kakashi sighed. "I'll go get her." He started to limp slowly out, his students looking at him. They figured he was tired of Sakura and Naruto's arguing.

* * *

Kakashi found her in a clearing. She was using the body flicker technique and the combination of a lightning elemental attack. Lightning was hard to control but she seemed to have it under control. In fact she would vanish and a flash of lightning would appear where ever she vanished from. A tree would fall and she would appear and disappear again. Yes, he was still wondering why she wasn't an ANBU with the skills she displayed, though her chakra was already extremely low.

"Kakashi-sensei." She appeared in front of him, her breathing a little rapid but she tried to hide it.

"It's dinner time. The others were arguing over who should get you."

"And you grew tired of listening to them arguing and did it yourself. I figured they wouldn't come after me, after all, Sasuke can't stand that there is someone more skilled than him on the team, Sakura hates me because I make her look stupid, and Naruto wouldn't so much as approach me unless it was to plan a fight strategy. Not much of a team, if you ask me." She tucked her kunai away. "Well then, let's get going." He nodded and she walked back with him.

"What was that attack you were using?" He asked, a bit curious.

"That was the Raiton ha. I have it pretty much perfected," she said as if she was speaking about the weather.

"It seems useful when used in junction with the body flicker technique." He looked at her with his uncovered eye.

"My parents wouldn't think so," she said quietly. Yes, her parents were all for out muscling opponents. Kagome was more for strategy and outwitting opponents.

"Oh." At that moment they entered the house.

"I'm going to go wash up real quick," Kagome said before running off. She easily found the bathroom and quickly washed her hands and face. She would shower after dinner and before bed.

Kakashi thought about what he saw when he went to get her. Yes, she had low stores of chakra but she seemed to know how to regulate her chakra and the amount needed to make things work. He would see if he was correct in the morning when he taught them chakra control. He took his seat and the others, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke, made it so they didn't have to sit next to her. Kakashi was sitting next to the bridge builder, and empty seat next to him and across from Sakura. Next to the empty seat was the young boy and the woman sat at the end of the table. Kagome came down and took the remaining seat, feeling slightly better after a quick wash up. She would feel a lot better after a shower and she knew more than likely Sakura would complain about sharing a room with her.

She ate and the boy ran off, what seemed to be almost tears in his eyes. Naruto was talking about being a hero and that had set the boy off and after a spew he ran off. She noticed that nobody made to follow him so stood quietly, silently excusing herself before she found the crying boy in his room.

"Inari," she called quietly, never knowing that her sensei had followed her. "Dry your tears and tell me what's wrong."

"Why do you care?" He scoffed. "I'm not anything to you."

"Someone has to care, Inari," she said. "I know what you had said has hurt and embarrassed your mother and jii-san." She sat next to him.

"Why do you guys want to be heroes? Heroes just die," he commented.

"I never wanted to become a ninja, Inari. I wasn't given much choice, but I know when I get older and find something or someone that I am truly willing to protect with my own life, that I will be glad I became a ninja. That is what I think a hero is, Inari. Someone willing to do everything in their power to protect those they care the most about. You must have lost your hero."

"Why did he have to die?" He cried and cried into her lap.

"He died to protect you and your mother and the dream he had, Inari. And I know when you get older and find that special someone and have children, you'll become a hero. You'll fight to protect them with everything you have. And I know he wouldn't want you crying over this. He'd want you to stay strong and to fight for what you believe in and those you care about." He looked up at her, tears still running down his face but his cries silenced.

"I would do anything to have parents like the ones you have. Never criticizing, just there to love and support you and cheer you up. My parents aren't like that at all. They are always condescending, judgmental and will believe everyone else over their own daughter." She looked him in the eye. "Promise me something, Inari."

"What is it, Kagome-sama?"

"No matter what, always love and trust your children."

"Hai, Kagome-sama." He yawned.

"To bed now, it's getting late." He nodded. She pulled back the blankets and he climbed into bed. She tucked him in and ruffled his hair before turning and leaving. She headed down stairs and sighed. She took the offered tea and sat down. "Inari is asleep," she said.

"He didn't give you too much trouble, did he?"

"No. He was just confused." She noticed everyone was gone.

"The boys went to sleep, Kakashi vanished shortly after you got up and Sakura went to take a shower." Kagome nodded before finishing her tea.

"I'm going to shower then head to bed. Thank you for everything." She bowed politely before walking up the stairs. She grabbed a set of pajamas and underwear and went to the bathroom as Sakura walked out. She closed the door and took a refreshing warm shower. She entered the room she was to share with Sakura to see her sprawled across both futons. She sighed and dropped off her stuff and climbed out the window and onto the roof. She saw Kakashi there and laid out on the roof.

"You heard, didn't you?" She never looked at him.

"And if I did?" He looked up at the night sky, looking at the stars in the sky.

"It wouldn't matter anyway," she said. "You were bound to find out sooner or later anyway. I'm pretty sure you know I will be gone in months anyways." She closed her eyes. The cool night air felt good against her skin. She smiled softly. "I'm glad to be away from the village and my family, even if it is just for a little while." She closed her eyes, the cool air lulling her to sleep on the roof top.

"Sleep, Kagome." He watched the stars for a few more before picking up Kagome. He teleported to the girls' room to see Sakura spread eagle across both futons. He sighed and realized why Kagome was on the roof. He teleported to his room and placed her in his futon. She was already asleep. He tucked her in and propped himself up against a wall. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes and fell into a sleep.

* * *

He woke up to find a blanket draped over him, the futon nice and folded and the blankets and pillows on top of it, the blanket folded neatly. His clothes were set nice and neat in front of him. He stood and the blanket fell. He pulled off his clothes and dressed before heading downstairs. The smell of breakfast was in the air made his stomach grumble. He came downstairs to see Kagome over the stove. There was an apron tied around her waist and a spatula in hand. The table was set and there seemed to be a pitcher of juice on the table.

"Go ahead and sit down sensei, breakfast will be done soon." She brought over a few plates of food and turned off the stove, placing the dirty cook ware in the sink to be washed. Inari and his mother showed up, the bridge builder trailing close behind. They looked at the food and sat down.

"I thought it was the least I could do, since you are letting us stay with you." She took a seat at the table next to Kakashi as Sasuke, Sakura, and Naruto came down. She helped herself as the others tiredly wiped the sleep from their eyes.

"The food is great, Tsunami," Sakura commented.

"Thanks, but I didn't cook breakfast, Kagome did." She smiled as she looked at Kagome. She was eating politely but slightly fast, like she was in a hurry.

"Right," Sakura said. She looked to Kagome. "You didn't come to bed last night."

"You took up both futons, Sakura." She stood and placed her plate in the sink. "I'm going to go train." She headed out the door.

"We should get to training as well, Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, hurry up." Kakashi followed her out and the three hurriedly ate, placed their plates in the sink and excused themselves, running to catch up with Kakashi.

"So what training are we doing today, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Chakra control," he said. He looked to see that Kagome was reading a book on jutsu, but still paying attention to him.

"How are we supposed to do that?" Naruto asked.

"Climbing trees only you aren't going to be using your hands. I want you to channel chakra into your feet, like so." He started to walk up the tree, crutches and all. When he got to he looked down. "Now you try. Use a kunai to mark how high up you get."

"Simple," Kagome murmured. She walked up the tree, nose still in her book. Before they new it, she was higher up then Kakashi.

"Show off," Sakura said under her breath.

"Good. I should have known this would have been simple for you." He seemed to smile. "What about you three?"

"If Kagome can do it then I can too," Sakura said. She managed to climb a tree but the tree wasn't nearly as tall as Kagome's.

Naruto tried but slipped and fell and Sasuke tried, only for the bark to crack.

"You two continue with this, the three of us are going to help the bridge builder. The sooner this gets done, the better." He walked away from them, Sakura following him.

"I'm going to go train by myself, Kakashi-sensei," Kagome said and walking farther into the forest.

Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. No pairing decided and mild Kakashi and Kagome fluff. Itachi should be introduced soon, hopefully. I don't know if I will be doing any polls for pairings yet, but I want to see where I go for the next few chapters before deciding on a pairing. Hang in there.


	5. Promises

_Chapter 5: Promises_

She had mastered another technique and had decided she was going to take a break by helping the bridge builder. When she got there she saw Sakura holding boards for the bridge. She decided to be more helpful and quickly did hand signs for her kagewoutsusu bushin no jutsu. She stepped back several paces, leaving several mirror images in her path. She approached and started to pick up boards and hold it in place as her mirror images nailed them in place. It would be done quicker this way. They didn't have much time and it was a matter of time before Zabuza showed back up, fully recovered and ready for a fight.

Kakashi was on guard duty, standing close to the bridge builder. Every now and again he would look at his two female students. Sakura was called away to help make lunch and Kagome was still helping with the bridge, what seemed to be five mirror images of her lending a hand. She would need her rest tonight if she was going to regain the chakra she used and he would have to talk to Sakura about taking up both futons. He would have thought that it would have been something Naruto would have done. He sighed. He wasn't cut out to deal with kids their age. Kagome didn't seem to be like them though.

"You should take a break, Kakashi. Lunch will be ready soon too." He looked to Kakashi. He was still walking around on crutches.

"I am a ninja and I am doing as I was told. We are to protect you until the bridge is built." He watched as Kagome brushed sweat from her brow. Her hair was getting in her way and he knew that. Long hair always did get in the way during manual labor. And he would try to convince her to tie up her hair for training and manual labor.

"Kagome-sama, want some water?" Inari asked, a bottle of water in hand.

"Thank you, Inari." She took the bottle and drank some water. Her throat was starting to feel a bit parched.

"Kaasan said lunch is almost ready."

"Okay. Can you go get the boys for me?"

"Hai, Kagome-sama!" He took the bottle and ran off to get the boys.

* * *

The bridge was completed the day Zabuza came with a shadow. It was a figure with a mask and dressed in green. Kagome was with the bridge builder, Sakura close as well. Sasuke was there and ready to fight. He was taking on the masked figure as Kakashi fought Zabuza. She was following orders by staying back to protect the bridge builder. She saw Zabuza come in the attack the bridge builder. She used her body flicker and combined her Raiton ha and managed to deflect his sword, sending it flying from his hands and into a tree. He moved back and away from Kagome, avoiding a close brush with the Raiton ha. He re-engaged battle with Kakashi. He didn't know a genin could move like that or perform such an advanced jutsu.

Kakashi noticed the quick block from Kagome that had disarmed Zabuza and saved the bridge builder. He was glad that she was able to move and react quickly to stop what could have been the strike to kill the bridge builder. He easily parried attacks from Zabuza and quickly summoned forth his dogs, them keeping Zabuza in place. He made to go for the finishing attack only for Kagome to stop him.

"No, Kakashi-sensei." His chidori stopped. "I already know you can beat him." They saw the one known as Haku come skidding to a halt in front of Zabuza. "Zabuza, demon of the hidden mist, that boy would do anything for you, even if it costs him his life. What of you? Would you do the same? He has been by your side, doing everything in his power for you."

"Haku." He looked down at the boy. He was panting and covered in cuts and scraps but trying to get to his feet to protect Zabuza.

"Would you?" Kagome charged forward and grabbed Haku, a kunai to his throat. Haku moaned but made no attempt to break away, too tired and power still to drained. "Would you do anything to save his life?" She looked serious. Her sapphire eyes meeting his as the others watched.

"Yes." His head fell, defeat clearly in his eyes.

"Good." She smiled sadly. "To keep both of your lives, you will protect this village from any harm, be it Gato or thieves." She removed the kunai from Haku's throat. "Kakashi, remove the binding."

"He can still attack us."

"Why do you think I still have Haku captive?" Kakashi nodded and the dogs vanished. "Haku, I want you to have him keep his word or I will be back for both of your lives."

"Hai," he said softly. She freed him. "Zabuza."

"Haku."

The both of them had managed to take care of Gato and his men.

* * *

"Not like that," Inari said as he looked at Haku. "We are trying to catch fish, not scare them away."

"Ah, sorry." He smiled kindly, not having to fight for once. "I'm not used to this."

"You'll learn." Inari grinned and continued on.

"You did a good thing for them, Kagome," Kakashi said.

"Everyone has some good in them," she commented. "I can tell that Haku doesn't like to fight and Zabuza looked like he could use a break. This seemed like a fitting place for them, and the village could use the protection, even if it is from two nin instead of many." Kakashi nodded.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, it's time to head out," Kakashi called.

"Okay, Kakashi-sensei." The three ran over.

"I still have my doubts of this working," Sakura said.

"Never doubt, Sakura," Kagome said. "If you doubt others then they will doubt you as well, and in turn you will doubt yourself." She looked to Inari. "Bye, Inari, Haku."

"Bye, Kagome-sama!" Inari called enthusiastically. "Come visit us."

"I will." She smiled a true smile for the first time in her life. "You better keep your promise."

"I will." He waved and went back to correcting Haku, Zabuza laughing softly.

"You better keep your promise as well, Zabuza."

"Don't worry about that, Kagome-san, I'll make sure he does," Haku called. She nodded and they were off, the path back to Konoha brighter than it was when they had left.

* * *

"How did the mission go, Kakashi?" The Hokage asked.

"It turned out to be of a higher rank than first thought. We ended up fighting the brothers from mist as well as the demon of the mist."

"What of Zabuza?" The Hokage was surprised that the whole team had come back without a scratch.

"He is still alive and living in the village of the bridge builder with a boy named Haku. Kagome made them promise to protect the village."

"How so?" The Hokage seemed surprised that the killer would promise to protect a village.

"Kagome had the boy at kunai point and told him if he wanted the boy to live then he would protect the village. He promised and the boy Haku promised he would make sure Zabuza would keep the promise. Both seemed relieved to be away from fighting and violence." He nodded.

"So the mission went well?"

"Yes." He couldn't mention what he found out about Kagome. "Now Naruto…."

* * *

She sighed, having returned to her house. Luckily her father was away on a mission. Her mother looked a little shocked but she didn't know why. She walked further in and could tell something was distressing her mother.

"Is everything okay?"

"Oh, Kagome. When did you get back?" Her mother stood quickly and straightened her appearance quickly. "It's just…" She didn't know how to tell her daughter the news.

Kagome looked at her mother and noticed her chakra was a bit off. There was a swirl around her abdomen. "You don't know how to tell me, do you?" She placed a hand on her mother's belly and flashed a bit of chakra, just enough to scan her mother. "You're pregnant, aren't you?"

"Yes." Her head bowed.

"Does father know?"

"I haven't told him yet," she murmured. "He doesn't want another child."

"It'll be alright." She looked up at her mother. "Father loves you so much. He won't be too upset." Her mother had shed a few tears. "Sit down and rest. I'll get you tea." She helped her mother to the couch and moved to the kitchen. Her shower and lunch could wait.

* * *

"How did the mission go, Sasuke?" His mother asked.

"Hn. Well enough." He looked to see his brother standing in the hall. "It turned out to be a higher ranked mission then what was told."

"And you all returned with so few injuries," Itachi said. His gaze pierced Sasuke's.

"Kagome healed us while we were still in the village."

"She really is a skilled girl," his mother said.

"Yes, very interesting," Itachi said. "I heard she graduated first in your class. She must be very skilled to our rank an Uchiha." But Sasuke knew what his eyes were saying. They were saying that he was a disgrace for an Uchiha. The only time someone from the Uchiha clan did not graduate first, it was usually to a Hyuga but not in this case.

Sasuke glared at his brother. "I'm going to go train." He stormed out of the house and to the training grounds. Kagome made him look bad in his families' eyes. The only attention he seemed to get was from the fan girls and he hated fan girls. But now he had a new goal. He was going to become stronger and more skilled than Higurashi Kagome. Maybe then he could come out of his brother's shadow and be recognized by his father and the rest of his clan. He may not be the heir but he deserved some sort of respect.

* * *

Naruto came to his empty apartment. He was alone and he would probably always be alone. But he never realized that Kagome was just as lonely as him and it was because she was more skilled than others. He was alone for other reasons, reasons he didn't quite know, but there was always a voice in the back of his mind telling him to kill those that sneered at him, that taunted him, that bullied him. He had asked why and often didn't understand, but the voice was always very faint and it was only some times that he could make out what the voice was saying. Sometimes there were snarls and growls and he couldn't understand, but he knew that this voice was all he had in this world, his only company and he wouldn't get rid of it if he could.

Author's Note: Here is the next chapter and thanks for the long reviews from some of you. As for Sesshomaru being her teacher, it will have to be someone in her clan and Sesshomaru looks nothing like her. He will play a role though, don't worry about that. I haven't decided on the pairing and I am far from that, though more will come next chapter. You might have to wait a five days for that to happen though.

Read, review, and ENJOY!


	6. Kagome, Kagome, The Bird in the Cage

_Chapter 6: Kagome, Kagome, The Bird in the Cage_

Her father came home and found her training. He made no comment. He knew she was probably working on her defensive techniques. He was surprised when she moved quickly using the body flicker technique and took down the dummies with flashes of lightning that came from a single kunai. She reappeared and turned to see.

"Father, you have returned." She stood straight.

"When did you get back?"

"Today, just before lunch." She placed her kunai back in her holster. "Did you need something?"

"No. I was going home." He moved past her. He wanted to take a break after that mission, but his daughter came back from a mission that had been reclassified as an S ranked mission and she proceeded to train. He figured she did nothing and stood back, allowing the Uchiha and Hatake to do all the work. He knew so little. How did he get stuck with such a child?

"You're home," his wife called. She was in the living room drinking tea. She looked a little wary.

"Is something wrong?" He approached her and placed his hand on her cheek.

"Ano," she looked at the floor. "Hidoki, I have something I need to tell you."

"What is it, koi?" He made her look him in the eye.

"I'm pregnant. I know you don't want anymore children, but…"

"I hope this child turns out to be more promising than our last." He kissed her, never knowing Kagome was listening in.

* * *

She wanted to cry but carefully and quietly backed away. When she was far enough away, she turned and ran. She held back her tears, but ran blindly. She didn't understand why her father saw her as unpromising. She trained constantly and managed to perfect many difficult techniques. Any moment not spent training was spent sleeping or eating. And when she was on missions, she managed to read up even more about techniques and medical information. She thought she was useful, at least to her team.

She bumped into someone and would have fell but she quickly did the body flicker technique and vanished before reappearing in a standing position. She looked up to see and Uchiha standing in front of her. It wasn't just any Uchiha either. This was one Uchiha Itachi. He looked down at her with a blank expression. She no longer looked confused, instead looking away from him.

"I am sorry for bumping into you, Uchiha-san." She bowed and stood straight.

"What are you running from?" He asked.

"Nothing," she whispered, looking away from him. Her eyes held pain. "I need to get back to training." She brushed past him and proceeded towards the forest.

"You shouldn't hide forever, Higurashi Kagome," he said. He knew she heard him when her step faltered, but she continued to walk towards the forest.

"You know nothing," she replied, almost darkly. She was gone in moments.

"You really are a mystery, Higurashi Kagome." He was gone in a flash.

* * *

He needed to train so grabbed his book and walked towards the forest. He entered to see a burning inferno. In the middle of the inferno was a feminine figure. She stood there, her back to him, but he recognized the emblem on the back of her shirt. This was his quiet student and she had set the forest ablaze, but he knew not how. He just watched as her arms came up and the next moment it was raining hard. The flames died down and all that remained was charred wood. She moved so her head was back, the rain she created pelting her in the face so he could not tell if she were crying. The next thing he knew, she was talking.

"You wonder how one as young as me can perform such advanced jutsu." She looked at him over her shoulder, a dull sapphire eye locking gazes with his only visible eye. She turned away. "I train hard, harder than most my age would train. Yet still I am useless." She chuckled, but it sounded sad and hollow.

"You are not useless, Kagome," he said. "You have more uses than even you know." The rain had stopped.

"You are the only one that thinks so." She dropped her head and brought her arms back up. He figured she was doing more hand signs. He felt the ground rumble, and new trees replaced the old. "Like this forest, the old trees will die and new ones will be born. Ninjas are no exception." She was gone.

"You really are confusing," he murmured to himself. So much for training. His mind was pondering why Higurashi Kagome was so different.

* * *

She looked into the room. Her mother was in bed, a bundle in hand. Her father stood next to her mother. He had a prideful grin on his face. She knew why as well.

"Souta, my son," her father said, "you shall redeem me yet." He chuckled quietly. "You shall be more promising than your sister." He looked down at his son. He was cute and looked much like a Higurashi with dark brown curls stuck to his head. She knew not what color his eyes were. But she knew she would be gone for the first few years of his life starting in a few months. She would miss the chuunin exams but she didn't much care. She never wanted to fight in the first place. It was forced on her by her father. He had no desire for another child but he seemed to be pleased with the fact her mother gave him a son. The males in the family seemed to be more promising anyway.

She turned and walked away. She had a mission to do with her squad. She didn't much care. Nothing had gotten better for her, not even with her team. Sakura still hated her, Sasuke was being his "I am better than you" attitude, and Naruto was still wary of her. Kakashi seemed different though. Yes, she ran into him, or he stumbled upon her and it was always when she was training. She was tired of revealing things about herself to him and other people. She would much rather keep to herself.

"Kagome thinks she is better than us," she heard Sakura say. "I mean, she does all the training exercises like they are nothing. She even shows up late."

"I show up when I am supposed to, which is before sensei shows up," Kagome said, nose in a book. "Perhaps the training exercises wouldn't be so hard if you did more than just stalk Sasuke and Itachi-san all day."

"What did you say?" Sakura snapped.

"I said, you need to do more training and act less the fan girl." She closed her book. "Besides, I'm pretty sure you annoy both of them." Sakura leapt forward with an attack but Kagome side stepped and did hand signs faster than they saw. The next moment the ground rumbled and Sakura was trapped in an earth binding jutsu. "You really are weak of mind as well." She sat down in front of Sakura.

"You're one to speak," she spat.

"The only thing about me that is weak is my chakra levels," she commented, book opened again. "I make up for that by knowing how to do the jutsu using minimal chakra. It is useful to know how to regulate chakra."

"What did I miss?" Kakashi asked as he approached, seeing Sakura in what looked like an earth binding jutsu, the same one Kagome had used on him to get the bells.

"Kagome called Sakura an annoying fan girl and Sakura pounced," Naruto said. He was the one that distanced himself the most from Kagome. Something about her made him wary. "And Kagome trapped Sakura in that jutsu then called her weak minded."

"I see. If you will, Kagome," he said.

"Whatever." The earth fell away and Sakura met the ground face first. "You never said to put her down nicely," she replied to the look he gave her. Sasuke smirked. Yes, Kagome had hit the nail on the head when she said Sakura annoyed him and his brother.

"We don't have a mission today, instead we are going to train." He seemed to smile at this.

* * *

He watched one Higurashi Kagome throw around the pink haired girl like she was a rag doll. He smirked. The girl really was annoying. The fight between Naruto and his brother wasn't much. They were evenly matched, but he got a kick out of seeing someone that had lower chakra levels than normal beat someone like Sakura. Yes, he knew what kind of person Sakura was. She thought highly of herself. She never even realized that Kagome was top of the class. Yes, someone with such low chakra was top of the class. He wondered if she would change any within the next few years.

But right now he had a mission to go on as an ANBU. His job was never done. Missions seemed to come in more frequently.

* * *

She looked up. Her uncle was above her, his shadow binding technique keeping her from moving. She hated him and something in the back of her mind roared to life, telling her to kill this man for his transgressions against her.

"You really are pathetic," he sneered. His hands roamed down her prepubescent body. She was pale, far paler than most of the clan. She looked almost sickly, being as pale as she was. "You are so weak." His hand gripped her hip.

"Take your hands off of me," she nearly snarled.

"There is nothing you can do about it and no one will ever believe you," he sneered. His hand traveled lower yet and she tried to fight the binding jutsu he had cast on her. She seemed to struggle and squirm and did everything she could possibly think of to break it. He only darkly chuckled at her attempts.

"Let go of me," she snarled.

* * *

Yes, he knew Kagome hid much. She trained every waking moment from what he knew. He wanted to see why his student was late. She was never late to meet with them. He came to the Higurashi compound and found her house. He walked in and walked down the hall. He was here often, trying to convince her parents to let her take the ANBU course. He failed every time, and every time her father scoffed and said such a weak girl could never cut it as an ANBU.

But he came across her room to see her struggling beneath her uncle, trying to break free from the shadow binding jutsu. He could see the man's hands roaming all over her body as she told him to stop. This made his blood boil. He came forward and pulled the man from her, breaking his concentration and Kagome leapt up, an almost feral look in her eyes. She glared heatedly at her uncle and made to pounce, but Kakashi had stopped her.

"Come, Kagome, we are late for training." He glared her uncle with his single eye. He kept her in front of him and her uncle behind him. It was a precaution for her and he would need to talk to the Hokage about this. She was not safe in the Higurashi compound any longer. He knew she was going to go train with a relative and he hoped it was not the same one that was violating her moments ago.

They came to the other three.

"You're…"

"Not now, you two." He looked serious. "Get to training. I need to talk to the Hokage." He vanished.

"What was that about?" Naruto asked. Kagome didn't say anything, instead she went into meditation. This was to help her regulate her chakra.

"How should I know?" Sakura said. She looked over to Kagome. "Now isn't the time to sleep."

"I'm not sleeping. Your banshee shriek is breaking my concentration." This caused Sasuke to chuckle lowly. "I'm meditating and you shrieking like that is making it hard for me so shut up and get to training."

"Harsh," Naruto mumbled. Sakura was red in the face and Sasuke held a smirk.

Yes, he was starting to feel amused with Kagome putting Sakura down, or at least making fun of her voice.

* * *

"Kakashi?" The Hokage was surprised to see him.

"I needed to talk to you." He looked serious. "I found Higurashi Naraku violating Higurashi Kagome today. I do not think it is safe for her to remain in the Higurashi compound."

"What do you suggest I do about this?"

"She cannot stay there and her parents need to be informed." He sighed. "She can stay with me."

"Kakashi, people will ask questions if a girl her age starts to stay with you, Kakashi." He knew Kakashi wasn't the cleanest of minds and he was a man. There was no telling what kind of life style he was living. "Especially with how you are."

"She isn't safe, Hokage, there will be no telling what else has already happened to her while she's lived there. We shouldn't take any chances, and it is only for a few weeks. She will be away from the village and training for years."

"Naraku is the one that is supposed to be training her," the Hokage said.

"We cannot let him train her, Hokage-sama. He would have raped her if I had not interfered."

"We will have to speak with her parents, Kakashi. Her father should be back from his mission soon and her mother will be stopping by soon as well."

All he could do now was wait.

Author's note: Here is the next chapter. Sesshomaru will come into play soon. And you will have to wait a little to find out what happens next. And I know this chapter jumped everywhere, but bear with me. I'm trying to get to her training.


	7. Intrigue

_Chapter 7: Intrigue_

He came into the Hokage's office to turn in his report, only to be met with the sight of his wife, Hatake Kakashi, and the Hokage, his wife sitting with his son in arms and Kakashi standing in front of the Hokage's desk. He was confused but wouldn't show it.

"Just in time," the Hokage said. "I needed to talk to you and your wife about a matter that has come to light just recently."

"What is it, Hokage-sama?" He asked.

"Higurashi Naraku, your own brother, almost raped your daughter today. Kakashi had managed to stop him. But we do not know what else has happened to her." Both her parents looked so unbelieving. "Kakashi has offered to take care of her until it is her time to leave the village and train, however, it will have to be with someone that is not Naraku."

"Why would your brother rape our daughter?" Kagome's mother asked.

"We will not discuss this here," he said. Yes, he could possibly know why Naraku tried to rape Kagome, if he hadn't already raped her, and he had wondered why Naraku was so adamant about training his daughter. He would have to find someone else and let the Hokage know. Otherwise, he had a feeling Kagome would not get the same training as every member of the clan.

"She will stay with you, Hatake-san," he finally said. He knew that word of what Naraku did could not be leaked out. He would be punished within the clan and he would have to talk to his daughter about what exactly went on when he and his wife were not looking. "Here is my report from the mission. Me and my wife have a lot to discuss." He placed the report on the desk. "If you will excuse us." He bowed to the Hokage and took his son from his wife's arms. "We need to go get Kagome as well, and explain to her what is going on. Thank you for bringing this to our attention." He bowed again and left, his wife following after him.

"Kakashi, things will change."

"I know, Hokage-sama."

"I will speak with Kagome myself as well." Kakashi nodded. "Go, your students still need you." He nodded and was gone in a whirl wind of leaves.

* * *

"Why had you not told us?" Her father yelled after putting his son to sleep.

"I had tried," she answered. "You and mother never believed me, because perfect Naraku could do no wrong."

"The night I found him in your room…" her mother started.

"He was degrading me, hitting me and trying to get what he wanted. You interrupted and I was glad." She was being honest. "I do hope you treat Souta better than you did me." She turned away. "I'm going to go train."

"You'll be staying with Hatake-san from now on," her father said before she left. "And Naraku won't be training you anymore. We don't want him raping you."

"It's already too late for that," she remarked bitterly, her back turned and she was heading down the hall.

"Your brother, has hurt our daughter," his wife remarked. "She is just a child and his actions might just doom us all." She was openly weeping now. She never wanted her daughter to be hurt in such a way, it was why she always pushed her daughter to learn strong offensive jutsu.

"She will not harm us," he replied.

"You do not understand." And she ran from the room. His wife was hiding something from him.

* * *

She trained until late and found the decrepit house her teacher lived in. There was broken windows, insults painted on the sides of the house, the lawn was overgrown with weeds, the front entrance looked to be less than solid and the paint chipped and faded. She didn't much care and knocked on the door. Moments later the door opened and there stood her sensei. He had let her in and she saw, just how messy his house truly was. There was a sink full of dishes, dirty clothes on the floor, and the floor looked dusty.

"Ever heard of a broom?" She asked.

"Yes, but I haven't had much time to clean up." She rolled her eyes and entered further. The house had a draft from the broken windows. "You'll be staying in this room." He opened a door to a small room, but it was clean and the windows were not broken. There was a small heater that made the room warm. The futon looked a little dusty from lack of use but she didn't care. She was far too tired right now. "We will gather some of your things in the morning. Now rest." He left the room and she collapsed on the futon face first, sleep consuming her almost instantly.

* * *

He woke to the smell of breakfast and walked into his kitchen to see Kagome over the stove. She seemed to be cooking and it looked like she had cleaned up the kitchen. The floor wasn't dusty and shined in the predawn light. The sink wasn't full of dishes and the spills that were all over the counters and tables were gone. There seemed to be a pitcher of juice and two cups on the table, and two plates. Breakfast condiments rested in the middle of the table on what appeared to be a large plate.

"It took me a while to clean up the kitchen and I had to throw out most of what was in your refrigerator. Most of it was spoiled." She walked over with the frying pan and placed something on the plate in front of him before returning to the stove she seemed to move around but stayed in front of the stove. She returned and placed food on her plate, turning off the stove and placing the frying pan in the sink to be washed later. She sat and started to eat.

"This is good." He continued to eat, delighting in the way it tasted.

"Yeah, well, when both your parents are away on missions often, you have to learn to take care of yourself quick." She continued to eat, sipping from her cup of juice every few bites.

"The Hokage wishes to speak with you today."

"I guess this has something to do with yesterday." He nodded. "Someone was bound to find out anyways." She sighed and stood, her food finished. She placed it in the sink and drank the last of her juice before placing the pitcher in the fridge. She went back to the sink and washed the dishes.

He watched his student work. It seemed she was like every female and liked everything clean. He knew that she would probably clean the rest of the house when she got back from today's training, if she didn't spend all day training by herself. Soon she was finished and he watched her leave the house. He knew she was going to go see the Hokage. He had to go meet the others for today's training. He knew Sakura would complain about Kagome being late. He sighed. He didn't want to do any training today. Perhaps he would take his time.

* * *

She knocked on the Hokage's door and waited for the word to enter. She came in and closed the door before bowing to the Hokage. "You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama?"

"Yes." He looked at the girl. She was young, but seemed sad and to herself. "You will not be trained by Naraku when you leave the village for three years. Your parents are trying to find a new person to train you." Kagome nodded. "But I wanted to know if you wished to go through the ANBU training program when you returned from your training. Kakashi and I both think you are far too skilled to be just a genin."

"Hokage-sama, have you discussed this with my parents?"

"I already know what they will say. It doesn't matter though, you are a ninja now and you can make your own decisions. It is what you want, not what they want."

"Then I will." She bowed. She was mostly doing this as a sign of rebellion to her parents. She knew she would be away all the time as well, which meant no dealing with her family and being away from Naraku. It would probably also make her able to protect the ones she felt were important.

"Very well. When you return you will go through the ANBU training course and take the test to be an ANBU. It will not be easy."

"I know, Hokage-sama. Not everything in life is easy." He nodded.

"Go now. I am sure you have training to get to." She nodded and using the body flicker technique, she was gone.

* * *

He appeared just as Kagome flickered into appearance, scaring the shit out of Sakura, who hadn't seen her coming. She smirked at the look on her face. "You really need to pay attention to your surroundings. It'll save your life as well as the team's lives." She crossed her arms and looked over her shoulder, "isn't that right, Kakashi-sensei?"

"She does have a point," he said. "Now, for today's training we are going to work on speed." He knew Kagome was fast enough, if she could come and go unseen and undetected. He didn't even see her coming. He would see who was faster. "I will meet you at the Hokage monument. Last one there has to buy lunch for everyone." In a poof he was gone.

"I don't have that much money," Naruto commented. He started to run, followed closely by Sasuke and Sakura. Kagome counted then took off, her body flicker technique helping her to surpass them all. She made it to the monument and Kakashi looked at her like she had a second head.

"What? I gave them a head start. It isn't my fault they are slow."

"I wasn't expecting you to get here so soon," he replied. Yes, she was faster than he first thought.

"Well, what good is offensive techniques if you aren't fast enough to use them? And you have to be strong defensively sometimes, or you might never be able to throw in an attack." He nodded before pulling out his book. Kagome plopped down on the ledge and pulled out her book. She opened to where she left off and continued to read. It was just another jutsu she needed to master. She would have had to master them in her training anyways.

He looked at his student. In a few weeks time she would be gone and training for years. He wondered if she was going to be any different than she was now. Yes, people changed. Sometimes it was for the best and other times for the worst. He would have to wait and see.

* * *

The three were close and had not seen Kagome. Sasuke managed to get there before the other two, next came Naruto and picking up the end was Sakura. All of them were panting.

"At least I made it before Kagome," Sakura said, still panting.

"Actually, I've been waiting for you three for the past half hour," Kakashi said. "Kagome made it here before any of you." At this they looked around and saw Kagome on the ledge reading a book. "I wasn't expecting her to show up minutes after I had."

"But, she must have cheated," Sakura said.

"Why would I do that, unless you want to call the body flicker technique cheating," she replied. "I mean, ANBU master it to increase their speed. Are they cheating too?" Sakura grumbled at this. "You owe everyone lunch, by the way, Sakura." Sasuke smirked at the upset look on Sakura's face. Who knew Kagome knew how to get under her skin?

* * *

"You summoned me, Hokage-sama?" A silver haired figure said.

"Yes, Sesshomaru-san. I want you to monitor Higurashi Kagome's training when she leaves the village in a few weeks. I want to see if she truly has what it takes to be an ANBU."

"But, Hokage-sama, a weak girl like her cannot possibly be ANBU material."

"Yet she is strong enough to perform several elemental jutsu, mostly fire and lightning, posses the speed of an ANBU and can perform the body flicker technique without fail while still in the academy," the Hokage reasoned, seeing the intrigued look on the ANBU's face. "She could prove to be interesting."

"Hai, if that is what you want." He wiped his face of all emotion and went to go see this Higurashi Kagome. Could she really be that strong with such weak chakra? He wanted to know.

Author's note: Here is the next chapter and the introduction of Sesshomaru. He will play a big part in the next few chapters and next will be a few things Kagome does before she leaves. Hopefully everything falls into place.


	8. Train, Train, And Train Some More

_Chapter 8: Train, Train, And Train Some More_

She skipped lunch with the others, instead heading to Kakashi's house. She made herself some food and ate it before cleaning the slight mess she made. She grabbed the broom and started to sweep the upstairs hall and down the stairs before cleaning the living room and sweeping it into the hall. She cleaned both bathrooms before sweeping up the pile on the floor. She threw it away and checked the time. It had taken her a good two hours to get it all done. She wanted to pull out the weeds in the front and back yards then scrape off the paint and repaint the house, re-shingle the roof, replace the broken windows and go from there. It seemed like a lot so she did her mirror image clone jutsu. It would get done faster this way.

Hours later the weeds were pulled from both yards and it was close to dinner time. She would finish everything later. Right now she was going to go shower then cook dinner. Kakashi-sensei was sure to be home in time for dinner. After dinner she would go back to reading her book then sleep. She had training in the morning with the team then she would go back to scraping the paint off the house using her mirror images.

She got out of the shower and started to cut things for dinner, the rice already cooking. She hummed quietly to herself, senses still alert.

* * *

He didn't expect Kagome to stay with the team to eat, especially since Naruto pulled them into a ramen shop. He knew Kagome didn't like ramen and she said so often. But of course Naruto had to have his way so Kagome left. Sakura seemed to smirk about having to pay less.

"You know Naruto is going to make you broke with the amount of ramen he eats," Kakashi commented. She sweat dropped as Naruto downed bowls of ramen. "You should have just gone with Kagome's suggestion of yakiniku."

"At least she isn't here," Sakura mumbled under her breath. Kagome just continued to make her look bad in front of Sasuke. She couldn't stand it.

"Hmm." They looked away and he ate it all before they looked at him. "I'm going to go train." He walked out reading his book.

"We didn't even notice him eat," Sakura murmured. Both boys nodded.

"I'm out of here," Sasuke said, standing from his empty bowl. "See you two tomorrow for training." He shoved his hands in his pockets and headed back towards the Uchiha district.

"Later, Sakura," Naruto said, standing from his twentieth bowl and heading out. "Thanks for lunch by the way." And Naruto too was gone.

Sakura looked at the bill and became angry. "NARUTO!" She slammed down the amount and took off running after Naruto to pound in his face. Next time she was listening to Kagome when it came to where they ate as a team.

* * *

He came to the house to see everything cleaned up and the floors polished. The smell of dinner was in the air and he walked into his kitchen to see Kagome setting the last dish down. He took his seat.

"I figured you would be here in time for dinner." She took her seat and started to serve the both of them.

"The house looks different," he commented.

"That happens when it is clean," she commented dryly. "You should try it sometime." He sweat dropped. "At least try to keep it this way when I leave." He nodded. He watched her eat. She was polite when she ate, but sometimes her remarks were smart-alecky. It seemed that way when she talked to him when it was just them. When it came to Sakura, she was blunt, but when it came to children, she was kind. She really was different.

"You should eat before the food gets cold." He nodded and dug in. Her cooking really was amazing.

* * *

"I went to Kakashi's house the other day to drop off a message. I thought I was at the wrong place and had to double check the address," a male said. "The house looked so different. I mean none of the windows were broken, there was no slanderous remarks on the walls, the weeds were pulled and grass was growing. The fence was fixed and the paint on the house looked fresh. The inside was just as clean," he remarked.

"You're lying," a female remarked.

"Why would I lie? You should see for yourself." He pulled her along and they stopped in front of the ex-ANBU's house to see that everything looked new.

"Wow!" She looked surprised. She hid when a small figure left the house. It looked to be a girl in her early teens. She seemed to do hands signs and was gone, performing the body flicker technique. "I wonder what made him want to improve his house."

"Who knows." And they both walked away.

* * *

She looked at her sensei. Yes, her time here was done. She needed to go train with her cousin on her mother's side. Yes, he had eyes similar in color to hers, only brighter and not nearly and dull as her eyes. He was a bronze color while she was extremely pale. "Goodbye, Kakashi. I won't be your student anymore." She bowed, a pack on her shoulder. She would be gone for years.

"You really were a surprise," he commented. "Goodbye, Kagome." He watched her turn and walk away with a male several years older than her. His hair was longer than Kagome's but he knew Kagome's eyes would be like his when she returned. He watched their forms get smaller. He turned to look at his other students. "Let's go, we have a mission to do." The three nodded, still unable to grasp what just happened.

* * *

He followed after them, ANBU outfit in place and staying out of sight. He knew he was to monitor and find out if she had what it took to become an ANBU. He knew some of what she was capable, seeing her perform the body flicker technique in combination with a lightning attack, which seemed accurate and useful. They could have used something like that a few years back during the great ninja war. But right now he had to follow her an the man that was related to her.

He wanted to see what else she could possibly do. And given the chance, he would spar with her to see just how skilled she was. He was one of the best ANBU, up there with Uchiha Itachi, Hiten, and Higurashi Bankotsu. His father was a retired ANBU. His half brother was a simple jounin. Not much was expected from his half brother, unlike with him. He was pushed day and night to be the best, like the Uchiha clan members were. But he didn't want to think about that arrogant clan.

* * *

They had traveled for several days and finally stopped in a large clearing. He looked at his cousin. She was young and was what most of the clan called ugly. He knew when they returned she would look different. Her chakra levels would be impressive and her speed would surpass many of the fastest ANBU. Yes, he had seen her speed first hand. He thought she would be great. He smirked. Yes, his cousin held promise, even if his uncle could not see it.

He wanted to see what mark she would bare. Each member had a mark. His was a purple diamond on his forehead, his mother had blue slashes on her clavicles, his father green lines from temple to hair line on both sides of his face. Each one was a bit different from the others. It was rare for a Higurashi not to have a mark, like with the female Kikyo. She was not a ninja, instead choosing to become a priestess. She had been born with looks so her chakra was low, almost non-existent. Usually it was, the uglier the child the more powerful they would become. Kagome wasn't exactly hideous though, but she was dull to look at and looked sickly, making her seem less attractive then other Higurashi children. They were surprised she lasted this long, especially with low chakra.

"We will start your training in the morning. Rest up," he told her.

"Hai, Bankotsu-sensei." She rolled out her sleeping mat, and laid down, her senses still alert. She was a naturally light sleeper. She knew she would have to rest because her training was supposed to be strenuous and long. She would also do meditation when on breaks to restore lost energy. She couldn't wait.

* * *

He looked around. The house was less draft because of the fixed windows and dust had started to collect again. She was only gone a few days and already his house was going to hell. He sighed and found the broom and some rags. He could at least maintain the cleanliness of the house she had brought back. He would then go and see the Hokage and see what he wanted from him. It couldn't be much worse than getting stuck with a fan girl, a boy with a brother complex and an idiot.

"You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama?"

"Yes…"

* * *

He had watched her train with Higurashi Bankotsu. She was fast and her attacks powerful and advanced for one as young as her. He would have thought her chakra reserves would be low with how hard Bankotsu seemed to drive her. But she did not falter or stop, did not miss a beat, instead mastering advanced jutsu faster than he thought possible. He could see the book Bankotsu was training her out of, one he had often seen her reading through while walking around the village or when waiting for Hatake Kakashi to show up for missions and training.

"Not bad, Kagome," Bankotsu said. "You learn fast and move even faster." He smirked. "I don't know why Naraku calls you weak or why your father says you have no potential. You can even move faster than I can."

"Thank you, Bankotsu-sensei." She bowed, minimal damage done to her. Bankotsu could barely land a hit, she moved so fast. She barely landed any hits as well, him being able to block with his over sized halberd he called Banryuu, his baby.

"You aren't quite better than me yet though." He smirked. "Just give it time and after you master this whole book, I'll teach you a few things of my own." She didn't know how to take that, being molested by her uncle and all. "I'll teach you how to wield a sword almost as big as my Banryuu, and even teach you my signature technique." He smirked. Yes, many had fallen to his signature technique during the great ninja war. "Uncle won't be able to say anything then." She nodded, standing from her short break.

"Ready when you are, Bankotsu-sensei." She was at the ready and he sprang forward, both vanishing from sight.

Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. To answer a few questions, yes she was raped several times by Naraku and hopefully this chapter answered a few questions. Her teacher from her clan is revealed and you can see she is a bit wary of being alone with males from her clan. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. The pairing will not be decided for several chapters, probably after I get a feel of how she interacts with other people. Read, review, and ENJOY!


	9. Secrets?

_Chapter 9: Secrets?_

He looked over his cousin's form for hand to hand combat. She was to the ground, kunai in both hands, one leg in front if the other but still somehow shoulder lengths apart. Her face had no expression and she looked about ready to pounce. It wasn't perfect but it was better than the form they taught in the academy. He just wondered if she could fight like that. He'd test her now.

He leapt forward with an attack and she easily dodged under and went for one of her own, barely missing as he pivoted on his hip. He went to attack again but she blocked and went for a jab with her free arm, but he jumped back and forward again, Banryuu coming down fast. She rolled to the side quickly and leapt back from his second swing and fainted right, coming in for an attack on the left. He managed to dodge, but just barely, a fine cut appearing in his shirt. She really was fast without the body flicker technique. He would have to do his own training to bring up his own speed at this rate.

He rolled and ducked before springing forward, trying to hit her. She ducked and dodged, jumped back and forward again. He moved quickly, trying to avoid getting hit with the kunai, but still trying to land hits of his own on his cousin. She seemed to have better luck at landing hits because of her speed. Yes, he would admit that she was slightly faster than him, but he didn't know if she could maintain that speed. He would hope not, or he would be in trouble.

* * *

He watched the fight between Bankotsu and Kagome. Yes, Bankotsu was fast but Kagome seemed to be faster. She was landing hits as well, where as Bankotsu wasn't and Bankotsu was one the best ANBU there was, but then again they were not using any jutsu. Bankotsu would stand a better chance if that were the case, being advanced in lightning jutsu and sound jutsu. He was better with lightning and wind. Lightning was a hard element to master. Being able to control was skill enough alone.

He watched as Kagome threw one kunai, Bankotsu dodging, then the other, grazing his shoulder. She moved fast, ducking under his swing and struck him in the stomach, surprising Bankotsu and temporarily stunning him. She managed to pull Banryuu from his hands but fell down.

"It's too heavy," she said and Bankotsu laughed.

"You really are skilled but you are not strong enough to handle my Banryuu." He chuckled and pulled it from her hands, allowing her to stand. "With more training you'll be able to wield a sword close to Banryuu in weight." He smirked. "I'll admit, you took me by surprise there."

"Well, I am fast. You are not faster than me though, cousin." She smirked.

"Yeah, yeah, time to start lunch." She nodded and went about the lunch time rituals.

He was surprised that she was able to disarm Bankotsu. Hardly anyone could do that. Perhaps she had what it took to be an ANBU. If she could fight like that then there was no telling what else she was able to do.

* * *

She trained all day, stopping for food, with her cousin. Yes, he wasn't so bad and she felt comfortable around him, more comfortable than with her own parents. He complimented her and made her feel better about herself, something she was glad about. And everyday her body felt different. She wasn't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing, and there wasn't really a safe way to bring it up with Bankotsu. But she knew she had to talk to him about it.

"Ano, Bankotsu-sensei."

"Yes, Kagome?" He looked at her. It was getting dark and they both had already bathed in a near by spring, of course not at the same time. That would have been inappropriate, more so because they were related and he was her teacher.

"My body feels different." She sat on the log and looked down.

"How so?" He looked at her and could tell she was embarrassed about talking about something like this.

"Well, it feels like I don't fit anymore, like a part of me cannot fit in my body."

"That is normal," he said. "Everyone in the clan feels like that when they enter puberty, at least those with chakra anyway. It'll feel overwhelming for a while, but your body will grow to make room for all the chakra that will be growing in you." She seemed to understand. "Before we return to the village, I will have to teach you a few important things. But that will have to wait until six months prior to our return."

"Hai, Bankotsu-sensei." She smiled as she opened the book and started to read. She did this by fire light and knew she would need to turn in soon. She had another long day ahead of her. She yawned, closed the book and climbed into bed. "Night, Bankotsu." She rolled over and in moments she was sound asleep.

"Night Kagome." He smirked at her sleeping form. She was promising as a ninja.

* * *

"What have you to report, Sesshomaru?" The Hokage asked.

"She is fast and strong when it comes to hand to hand combat. Her speed using the body flicker technique is unrivaled and she seems to have mastered several lightning, fire and earth techniques, with some skill in water techniques." The Hokage nodded. "She seems promising enough but I am sure you want me to document her progress."

"Yes. Every few weeks check in. Get some rest and head back out in the morning." He nodded and left. Right now he had to prepare everything for the chuunin exams. It was going to be so much work for him. He rubbed his temples and closed his eyes. Just one more thing on his plate to do.

Things had changed with her absence and he knew it. Sasuke seemed slightly grumpy, Sakura had increased in the cling factor, Naruto fought with Sasuke more often outside of training, and he had no food when he got up or when he got home after extra training. He was a bit more irritable, especially with Gai. He showed up later than usual because he really didn't want to deal with them. He had to go and give his team the passes for the chuunin exams.

* * *

He sighed and showed up in front of them. "Here." He handed them the passes. "Be sure to show up at room 301 at the time on the slip." He left.

"Sensei doesn't seem to be in much of a good mood," Sakura commented.

"Hn." Sasuke turned away from them.

"I thought so too," Naruto said. "It started with Kagome leaving."

"Why would Kakashi-sensei change because of that little ugly, weak duckling?" Sakura asked.

"Because one, she was stronger than you, two, her making fun of your shrill voice was entertaining, three, she actually trained instead of stalking people, four, she could perform advanced jutsu in the blink of an eye, five, she kept Naruto in line," Itachi said. "I could list more." He smirked at the upset look on Sakura's face. "Have you ever heard of the story about the ugly duckling?" He circled them and Sasuke glared at him, though he had to agree. When she made fun of Sakura it was entertaining. "In the end the ugly duckling turned into a beautiful swan."

"She would never be beautiful because ugly people stay ugly." She glared at Itachi, which in itself was a bad move.

"You will see. When she comes back, you won't recognize her, and she will be far stronger than you." He turned away. "Be sure to train hard, Sasuke, if you ever expect to come close to me in power and skill." He walked away.

"Your brother doesn't know what he's talking about," Sakura said to Sasuke. "Kagome will always remain ugly and she won't ever surpass me in looks."

"Hn. I'm going to go train. You two should as well." He started to walk away. "He is right after all, Sakura, Kagome is stronger and more skilled than you are and your voice is shrill." He was gone.

Sakura gaped at him, upset with the insults. She glared at him and at the thought of Kagome. She made her look bad in front of Uchiha Sasuke and she was ugly. Why would someone like Itachi, or Kakashi for that matter, notice her?

"Well, I'm off to train," Naruto said, wanting to get away before Sakura hit him for no reason. She did that when Kagome pissed her off. But he high tailed it out of there. He was going to train, especially if he wanted to pass the chuunin exams.

"NARUTO!" She ran after him but he was already long gone.

* * *

She was cramping and she knew why, though she was far too embarrassed to inform Bankotsu. She had the necessities, her mother telling her to bring a lot of it. It was embarrassing that most of what she packed had been feminine hygiene products. She had no way of disposing of it, except to burn them when Bankotsu was off hunting for dinner. It was less embarrassing than having to store them until they got back to Konoha. She was drinking more water, which eased the cramping but she had to pee a lot more too. Bankotsu didn't think much of it and if he already knew he didn't say anything. She was too focused on her training.

"You really are coming along great, Kagome-chan." He smirked at her as they ate. He got along better with her than anyone else. He knew that when they got back to Konoha, he would become more protective of her when it came to males. She was far too important and powerful to go to just anyone. And he looked at her now. Her appearance did manage to change a little bit. Her eyes were still dull but they had stilled managed to gain some sort of light.

"Thanks, Bankotsu-sensei." She continued to eat, thinking of the overwhelming power that still managed to somehow not fit into her body. "Bankotsu," she called.

"Yeah?" He took a drink of his water.

"I still feel weird. The chakra still feels too overwhelming to stay in my body."

"It's not going to go away right away," he commented. "It'll take a bit more time." She nodded, though something still didn't feel right. "It just keeps getting bigger though."

"It shouldn't feel that way in a few months, give it time." She nodded, though something still whispered in the back of her mind. It told her that her chakra would only grow larger.

"I'm going to sleep now," she whispered. She barely ate any of the food. She placed it aside and crawled into her makeshift bed.

"You probably should, tomorrow is only going to be harder."

* * *

He looked at her. Something about her was off. Yes, she was strong and her eyes not nearly as dull as they were when she had left, but they were not bright either. It had been a few months since this started. He had watched her master several lightning and fire jutsu, watched her learn to manipulate the earth to take form, watched as she destroyed a vast amount of trees and replace them with new ones, after putting out the fire with rain. He watched as she summoned a large white dog to do her bidding, impressing not only him but Bankotsu, because a summon that large and that powerful was hard to summon and even harder to form a contract with, but she had managed to.

He knew he had to get back and report to the Hokage. He had been gone for a month and a half and needed to turn in his report. He turned as she went to sleep and shot off. It would take him almost a day to get back to the village at his current speed, and if he did not stop for a break. He wanted to get back and fast.

He looked up. He had not expected Sesshomaru to show up so abruptly, and without a message ahead of time. "Sesshomaru."

"I'm here to report." He nodded and looked ready to listen as Sesshomaru started to talk. "She has managed to form a summoning contract with a large white dog. The summon itself is strong, almost as strong as the nine-tailed beast. She is getting stronger and fast. Her chakra is almost always visible, like it is too much for her body to contain. She even managed to destroy a large part of a forest with fire, put out the raging fire with an unnatural rain, and have new trees replace the brunt ones. She did not have a single burn on her through out all of this."

"I see." He sighed. He knew that there was something no one new, safe him and Kagome's mother, something that had even been kept from the Higurashi clan and most importantly Kagome. "There is not much time left."

"What do you mean?" Sesshomaru asked.

"There are more than just tailed beasts in this world Sesshomaru. Not all of them are known. In time though, everything will be revealed. There is no telling if it will be good or bad."

Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. I will try to post another chapter tomorrow but I still have packing to do. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Now go review.


	10. Conclusion of Year One

_Chapter 10: Conclusion of Year One_

She was fighting her cousin again. It had already been a year into her training and her looks had changed a lot since she first started. She was no longer that awkward twelve year old girl. She was thirteen. She was strong and she moved gracefully around the clearing, beating away Bankotsu. They had decided the first year would be nothing but hand to hand combat, no jutsu of any sort. The first half of the day was spent with the two of them fighting hand to hand. The second half of the day was spent with her working on her jutsu while Bankotsu did his own training on speed. She knew he wanted to get faster because she was faster than him. So he did his training and she did hers.

She smirked and she had shoved him back, catching him by surprise. She sunk a kunai into his shoulder and he faltered. She swiped again with the other kunai and kicked him. She grabbed his Banryuu from his hand and threw him down, Banryuu at his throat. "Looks like I beat you, Bankotsu," she said with a smirk.

"So you did." He smirked as she helped him up. He took back his Banryuu. "I am amazed that you can carry my Banryuu. She is really heavy after all."

"Well, I have been training with you, haven't I?"

"You have a point there." He rubbed his chin. "I did talk with your parents before I left. They felt that I should train you for four years instead of three, like other Higurashi clan members. You have three years left of me training you. I plan to make you the best kunoichi in the village." She nodded as she started on lunch. She was so glad to be away from the village and away from everything that could possibly hold her back.

* * *

He watched her beat her cousin for the first time, and with his own weapon as well. He was able to follow their routine by now and she didn't seem to tire so easily. She wasn't tired easily to start with, but she was able to stay up longer now, and was able to keep a constant speed from the beginning to the end of the hand to hand combat training. Not many could go from sunrise to noon fighting hand to hand without a break, but she was able to. She was already surpassing a lot of the other ninja her age. He knew that they were yet to hear about what had happened to the village. He was shocked when he found out, some odd months ago. His surveillance of Kagome kept him away for months at a time. His father understood this but Inuyasha didn't. His half brother always had to find a reason to complain. But his training wasn't slacking either. When they would finish for the day, which was always the same time, he would go off and train for the better part of the night then sleep for a few hours and continue with his surveillance. It wasn't hard but it was interesting enough to see someone her age train and master techniques others had such a hard time doing.

Tomorrow, though, he would watch them train then head back to the village to give his report. The new Hokage was just as eager to know about her as the old and he figured the old Hokage had left her a note explaining the situation. Yes, the Higurashi clan had four or five people around her age also gone from the village with four or five other Higurashi members, but ten ninjas from the Higurashi clan was nothing. The clan was still fully functioning and still able to protect a good portion of the village and they still had enough people to do missions. But hopefully his report would not disappoint her.

* * *

"Okay, now, we will fight until lunch using both hand to hand combat and jutsu, minus summons. I want to see how you weave the two together."

"Yes, Bankotsu-sensei." She pulled out her kunai and looked at him. He pulled his Banryuu from his back and got ready. He smirked and leapt forward. She dodged and weaved, hand signs being done in quick succession. She dodged his dragon hammer and charged forward, lightning engulfing her kunai. She slashed and he dodged before slashing and she dodged. This went on for a while until she finally managed to land a hit. She was not using her body flicker technique. She wanted it to be fair, or as close to fair, and she was faster than Bankotsu. Yes, he was working to become faster, but she had always seemed to get faster.

"You are holding back," Bankotsu pointed out.

"I am far faster than you are, dear cousin," she commented back. She dodged under his attack and struck him again with her Raiton ha. He grunted. It really did hurt getting hit by something like that.

"That really hurt." He swung again and threw forth a ball of fire. She dodged and he threw more fire, her dodging and weaving, Raiton ha ready to be used. She knew that she would get tired after continuous use of the Raiton ha, as well as with the hand to hand combat. She knew she would not last as long as him though. He had experience doing this. She would have to think fast to beat him before she completely tired out.

He smirked. It was near lunch and her speed had decreased enough for him to notice and pick up on. He smirked and launched several fireballs and his dragon hammer. She dodged most of the attacks but had gotten hit by most of the dragon hammer. She gave a cry of pain before falling to the ground.

"Damn." He ran to her. Parts of her were burned and cut. He grabbed his bag and grabbed his first aid kit. He was good at fighting but his medical jutsu was only so-so. He had to treat her fast if he was going to minimize scarring. He cleaned away the blood only to see the damage was already healing. He knew there was something about her that was different but he wasn't sure what it was and he was unaware if she knew anything or not. But he cleaned and dressed the wounds and looked at her. She had lost consciousness from the attack but she looked like she would be okay. He sighed. He should have been more careful with his attacks. He knew she wasn't on par with an ANBU just yet, even if she was stronger than most her age.

* * *

He had seen the devastating attack and had almost revealed himself but stopped when Bankotsu ran to her fallen form. He treated her quickly and soon had her in her bedding resting. He knew this would set them back a few days, but he had a report to make so he leapt away, traveling quickly through the trees. He'd be back in Konoha in hours.

* * *

She awoke, a dull pain ringing through her body. She sat up and rubbed her temples. "What happened?"

"You were hit by my dragon hammer, at least a portion of it." He sighed. "I should have been more careful with what I was doing."

"I was taught to fight as if it were life and death. I cannot have you going easy on me, Bankotsu." He nodded. Her stomach grumbled and he handed her a plate of food. She ate it slowly, not wanting to get a stomach ache.

"We'll have to wait until you fully heal to start your training back up. It will take a while." She nodded as she ate.

"Bankotsu?" He looked at her. "I know you said that the overwhelming feeling if my chakra should leave after a year, but it still feels the same."

"That rarely happens, but usually when it does, you have someone that is powerful and extremely beautiful. The last case of that happening was about a hundred years ago with a woman named Midoriko. She is the most well known Higurashi in our clan and saved Konoha and the whole ninja world from demons."

"I didn't know she was ugly."

"All Higurashi clan members usually start out ugly, minus Kikyo. But she became a priestess because she had no chakra and was a disgrace to our clan. She is in the land of mist now."

Kagome nodded. She knew about Kikyo. She was sent away by her father. It was hidden that Kikyo was a part of the Higurashi clan. The clan could not be known to have had a chakra less member so she was sent away when she would have entered the academy. Now though Kagome had things to do, like train.

"Can we get back to training now?"

"You are still hurt. When you are fully healed we will start training again."

She sighed and looked away. "But I don't even hurt," she mumbled, "Just a little sore." She stretched her arms over her head to try to relieve some of the soreness.

"Stop that. You're going to reopen your wounds," he said.

"But it feels so good." She stretched farther back and he jumped up to stop her. "Mmm. Much better." She stood and noticed the bandages on her face she pulled them off as Bankotsu tried to stop her, trying to say it was still healing but he stopped when he noticed just clear, unscarred skin beneath the bandages. He turned her face and saw no sign of a mark.

"That isn't right." He pulled the bandage on her leg down and saw nothing. He could have sworn that there were scorch marks on her legs. "I know that there was burns there and a few scratches on your face." He was stumped by this.

"Ano, Bankotsu, there is something I should probably tell you that no one else knows, not even my parents." She looked down. "I heal really fast. I am not really sure why though. Please don't tell anyone."

"I won't. Get some rest, we have a big day ahead of us." She nodded and climbed into bed. She really was feeling drained.

'Sleep child,' a voice rumbled in the back of her mind. Used to this, she closed her eyes.

* * *

Kakashi sighed. He saw a silver-haired figure walk by. Yes, he knew who it was. It was Taisho Sesshomaru. He was hardly seen around the village and was away on missions all the time and only came in for a day before he was off on a mission again. He was a high ranked ANBU and was younger than Kakashi by a few years. He was faster than a lot of the ninjas in the village. He was also skilled and one of the few Taisho clan members still alive. It was Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, and the man only referred to as Inu no Taisho.

He took a sip from his tea, his back to the street and there was no one around to see his face. All of his students, except Kagome, had tried to see his face. Kagome probably would have succeeded if she had tried. When in his home he had not tried to hide his face because his students, minus Kagome, knew where he was. Though sadly enough not even she had seen his face for the time she lived with him. Her focus was always on training, reading and fixing up his house.

He had managed to maintain the cleanliness of his house and had taken to gardening to relax. He had a flower bed in the back yard. The paint still looked it's pristine white with black shingles and dark blue borders. All of his windows were clean and the climber plants on his fence were blooming with purple flowers known as morning glory. There was still a few of her things in the room he had for her to use and he made sure to dust and clean the room every week. He didn't know if she would be staying with him, but he wanted everything to be as clean as she had left it.

He downed the rest of his tea and stood, mask in place. As he was walking home he saw Sesshomaru leaving the Hokage tower and towards his home. He didn't much care, still with drawn. Naruto had left to train with Jaraiya, Sakura was training under Tsunade in medic jutsu and fighting, and he was stuck training Sasuke. Yes, Sasuke was more skilled than Sakura and Naruto but he wasn't sure if Sasuke had what it took to learn what he wanted to teach him. He sighed. He missed Kagome and her wit. He wondered how she was doing.

* * *

He had given his report and was now at home relaxing. He would leave in the morning to continue watching Kagome's progress. He needed the rest. He traveled far and fast and he would have to get up early to get back to the designated place for their training. He wished to take a break from this mission but he couldn't. He couldn't wait for her training to be over.

Author's Note: Here is the tenth chapter. Review please.


	11. Start of Year Two

_Chapter 14: Start of Year Two_

He came upon them just after dark. Kagome was reading a different book, her empty plate in front of her. Bankotsu seemed to be drilling. Yes, he knew Bankotsu was slower than Kagome. Kagome was remarkably fast, but not nearly as fast as him. He wondered what of their training he had missed but then remembered she had been injured and would not have been able to train today or for the next few days at least. It looked like there would be a period of time where he was doing nothing. He didn't look forward to that.

* * *

She woke up and stood, stretching her already sore muscles. She looked to her cousin to see that he was still sleeping. She started the fire up and started to cook breakfast. She wanted to get to training and it would be faster if she cooked now instead of after Bankotsu woke up. She made sure it cooked before walking over to Bankotsu. She shook him and he mumbled before turning over. She shook him only to get the same result. She scowled and then smirked, an evil idea going through her head. She did a few hand signs before poking him. He jumped up with a yelp and looked at her.

"What was that?" He grumbled.

"That, dear cousin, was an electric poke. You should have woken up the first or second time." She stood. "Come now, breakfast is ready and I am eager to get back to training." He grumbled but walked over to an already cooked breakfast. He dug in and his foul mood was replaced with a moan of appreciation.

"Now this is good, much better than my cooking."

"But I like your cooking, cousin. It's better than my mother's cooking." He chuckled and continued to eat.

"The man that marries you will be lucky," he commented. "You can cook, you are strong, and beautiful, not to mention smart."

"You over exaggerate," she said.

"Ah, but you will be beautiful when we return." Yes, he kept no mirror and the spring water was too murky for her to see her own reflection. The near by river was much too shallow to hold a reflection. She did not see it, but he did. Her hair was smooth and silky, but was not yet shiny. Her eyes were almost as brilliant in shade as his own. Her pale skin was still pale but there was a slight glow to her that was not there before. Her hair was longer now, but not nearly as unruly as before and he had trimmed her bangs so they were not in her eyes, like they usually were. She had not curved out yet, but that would be later. Her face was still young though. It had not changed yet.

"If you say so." She placed her plate down. "Let's start, Bankotsu-sensei." She stood.

"Are you sure you still want to train?"

"Yup. I'm fully healed, see?" She pulled her shirt up a little to show unblemished skin. "I am just a little sore from yesterday's work out. I've never done so many sit ups and push ups before." She pulled her shirt back down.

"Alright." He stood with a sigh. "I'm not going to use my dragon hammer. We saw what happened last time." She nodded before getting into her stance, kunai in both hands. Without warning they attacked each other.

* * *

He was surprised when she lifted her shirt to reveal not a scratch on her. Yes, there was something he was missing. He wasn't sure what it was but he wanted to find out. No one could heal that fast from such injuries, except for the kyuubi vessel. But he knew she did not house a tailed beast. All of the tailed beasts were accounted for. He knew the old Hokage knew something but had never let it slip and he was unsure if the new Hokage was informed or if anyone knew anything. He had so many questions about her.

He watched as the two fought. He knew Bankotsu was refraining from using the dragon hammer. It was a dangerous attack. But she was not using her body flicker technique either and he knew that she would eventually start using it in a fight against Bankotsu when her chakra was more developed. She would be hard to beat then. He might even have a hard time beating her by the time she got back to the village. He hoped to get the chance to face her.

* * *

He was surprised by how much energy she had. She was able to go for a longer amount of time at the same speed but she was not used to using her chakra for long periods of time in conjunction with her natural energy and movement. Yes, she expended a lot of energy and chakra at once, especially since she did not cancel her Raiton ha before casting other jutsu. It made her deadly but she had to learn how to manage her chakra. He would help her learn more chakra control.

He panted as they stopped at lunch. She looked tired, but still somehow had energy. It didn't make sense. Yes, she should be tired but she should not have this much energy still left in her. He grumbled but started on lunch. He would see how much energy she had left after lunch before determining what to do with her.

"Here." He handed her a bowl of soup before serving himself. He started to eat as she ate. She seemed to enjoy it and had a smile on her face.

"You really are getting better at this," she commented after swallowing her food. Her bowl empty. "I'm going to meditate, Bankotsu. You can continue with your speed training." He nodded and watched as she went to sit underneath a large tree. She resumed her meditative pose and closed her eyes. She cleared her mind. She knew she had to get better control of her chakra. She had stopped meditating the moment she left the village to train so she figured it would help her more now, like it had helped when she started the academy.

'You are strong child,' a voice rumbled in her mind. 'You can be stronger. I will tell you how.'

'What do you mean?' She asked in her head.

'I can tell you how to better your chakra control. I can tell you how to minimize your chakra use. I can tell you how to become faster and stronger and far more intelligent than any ninja in your village or any other village.' The voice seemed to sneer at the thought of the other ninja.

'How is that?' She saw nothing else in her mind, just darkness.

'Harness my power, child. Harness what is trapped so deeply within you. Grasp everything and nothing. Feel no hatred. Hatred will weaken you.'

'Who exactly are you?'

'In time you will know who I am, but look for the light.' And the voice became silent.

'The light?' She knew not of what the voice spoke of but she knew she would not get it right away. She would meditate until she did find out what it was. When that did happen she would still meditate to strengthen her focus and hopefully work on her chakra control. She hoped she would find it fast.

* * *

He watched his cousin meditate as he took a break from his speed training. He was drinking some water as he looked at her. She seemed so driven to accomplish something so he would leave her be until dinner. After dinner they would both shower and then sleep. He wanted to start early with her tomorrow. He still needed to get her back for the awakening this morning.

* * *

He grew bored of watching her sit there and meditate so he left to do his own training. He had better things to do.

* * *

He sighed. Another mission was done. It was nothing special and he came back with a few injuries. He was sitting in front of a medic nin. She had asked him to take off his shirt. He did so, but he really didn't want to. The female was usually unduly familiar with his person. Yes, she was attractive, but she was often too friendly with a lot of the ANBU men, and any ninja she thought was attractive. He was well known and had what women said was a perfect body. Women now in days did not look beneath the underneath. It was times like these that he missed Kagome.

Kagome wasn't like the other kunoichi. A lot of the new kunoichi were more focused on men then training and the mission. Kagome trained a lot and did not swoon over a pretty or cute face. She was too focused on her training, but she still knew more about people from observation than fan girls did. She was blunt about it too, though still kind to people that did not annoy her.

He sighed as he pulled his shirt back on.

"So, Kakashi, got any plans for tonight?" She batted her eyes at him. She had been trying to seduce him for a while now. Women had said he had stopped trying to sleep with them, and of course she thought she could bag him. She was unsuccessful so far.

"Actually I do." He pulled on his vest and zipped it up. "I have a report I need to give the Hokage."

"Maybe after you do that, you and I could," she approached him and circled him, eyeing his body like it was some kind of bone. "Have a little fun." She ran her hands over his chest.

"Sorry, but no." He moved around her. "I have training I want to get done." He was gone down the hall and the woman was fuming. No one turned her down.

* * *

Sakura was sweating. Her training was getting harder but she didn't care. She had to get stronger than Kagome, then maybe Sasuke would notice her. She was so set on impressing him. Nothing else mattered to her. She wanted to make Kagome look bad and in her mind inner Sakura was standing over a beaten Kagome. "CHA! I'm the greatest!"

"Focus Sakura," Tsunade said, striking her on the head. "Now continue before I make you run more laps."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama!" Even when she was not here, Kagome was getting her in trouble.

* * *

He was training with Jaraiya. It wasn't hard but he was mastering a new technique, or trying to anyways. He was going to call it the Rasengan. It would beat Sasuke's Chidori any day. He smirked and started to chuckle. Yes, he wanted to best Sasuke.

"Back to work, slacker," Jaraiya said.

Naruto sweat dropped and continued his work.

* * *

Training with Kakashi had gotten rigorous. Though he had a slight break with his sensei leaving on a mission. He thought he'd get it easy, that is until…

"Sasuke, let's go. You need to get to training."

And his good day was ruined by Kakashi's appearance.

"Now no sulking. I know Kagome and Naruto are training hard. I know you don't want Naruto to be stronger than you." Sasuke nodded and he started his usual training with Kakashi. He hoped to stay stronger than Naruto and maybe catch up to Kagome. She was the top ninja in their class.

* * *

She looked at all of the reports on one Higurashi Kagome. She wanted to know everything about the young girl. She seemed to be impressive enough and had surpassed many of her chuunin and jounin. She knew that Kagome was going to go through the ANBU course and test when she returned from her training. It was just a matter of time before she met the girl for herself. She wondered what she would be like and was waiting for the day the girl was back in the village and among her ranks. A girl with her talent would be useful.

Author's Note: I admit, some of this chapter is a filler. I was running out of ideas for this chapter but I didn't want to jump too far ahead either. It is also a brief look into the other's lives and a conversation with a voice in her head. No she isn't crazy, though she might think she is. Hopefully I can find something to put into the next chapter. Read, review, and ENJOY!


	12. Orochimaru's Attack

_Chapter 12: Orochimaru's Attack_

She was meditating after a long day of fighting with Bankotsu. He was still slower than her and she was only getting faster after every day of meditation. She wanted to find that light the voice was talking about so meditated everyday after lunch until Bankotsu told her it was time for dinner. After dinner she would read, then bath and sleep. She never knew if she was close to finding the light and it was already six months into the second year. She wanted to find this light and soon.

She became excited when she saw a gold light. She concentrated on it and it started to get brighter. Right when she was about to grab it she was shaken from her meditation. She opened her eyes and glared at Bankotsu.

"Bad timing?" He looked nervous.

"I was so close." She turned away and huffed. "You just had to pull me out of my meditation when I was so close to grasping that light."

"Sorry. You'll get it tomorrow."

"It took me six months to get that far."

"Eat." He placed a plate in her face.

"Fine." She started to eat, still upset with him. When she finished eating she stood and moved to the hot spring. She wanted to bathe then read for a few then get to sleep. She wanted to finally grasp the light she had seen. It looked so marvelous. Perhaps that was the light the voice was talking about. She hoped so. If not, then she would harness that light and find another, the one the voice spoke of. She wanted to find that light.

* * *

He was a little nervous because of the look Kagome gave him. She looked so upset about being interrupted. But he was unsure of what she meant by grasping a light. Perhaps tomorrow he would not interrupt her, instead allow her to come out of her meditation on her own. He was sure she would be in a better mood if that were the case and she actually found the light again.

He just ate and watched as she left to go bathe. He would leave her to her peace.

* * *

He followed her and wanted to see if the wounds she suffered from the morning were still there. He had not followed her to the springs before. He was usually against it, but she did have some deep lacerations by lunch that had been treated before they ate. But he watched as she lifted her torn shirt up and over her head. She was facing the spring so her back was to him. She threw down the shirt and grasped the bandages. She started to unwrap the bloody bandages and he watched as porcelain skin was slowly revealed. It was tinged pink with blood. The bandages fell away and all that was left on her upper torso was the bindings for her breasts. But he saw no marks from the lacerations, only clear, blood tinged skin. He watched as she reached up and stopped.

"Do you enjoy watching women get undressed?" She asked. He was shocked that she knew he was there. "I always heard that a snake in the grass like you was looking for an Uchiha body to inhabit, Orochimaru." He quietly released the breath he had been holding. She had not sensed him.

"Now why would I need an Uchiha when there is a pretty little morsel in front of me?" He watched as Orochimaru leapt toward her. He watched as she dodged away and reached into her holster and drew two kunai. She was ready for anything he could possibly do. "So feisty." Orochimaru licked his lips. "The ones with fight are usually more entertaining." He leapt forward and she moved quickly through a series of hand signs. Her kunai became surrounded by lightning and she dodged as he swiped at her. She shoved the kunai into his arm and the lightning coursed through him. He hissed as she drew another kunai. He pulled out the kunai to see scorched flesh where the kunai had been.

"You really are talented." He licked at the blood with his long tongue, further creeping Kagome and Sesshomaru out. "I could breed the perfect body using you."

"Like hell I would let you do that." She went through more hand signs, never canceling out her Raiton ha. "Kagewoutsusu bushin no jutsu," she called and stepped back several paces, several mirror images appearing as she stepped out of them. "I would rather fight and die than allow something like that to happen to me." They leapt forward, each clone attacking quickly. Each one moved quickly with the body flicker technique, slashing and charring Orochimaru's flesh.

He was surprised she could still fight after the long hours of fighting with Bankotsu. But she faltered in her steps. She was going low and chakra and he might have to blow his cover and try to help her.

* * *

'Harness my power child,' the voice rumbled from above her. 'You almost had it once. The light is easier to gain when you are in danger.' The voice silenced and she saw the light. She grabbed it and felt a coursing through her body, kind of like another heart beat trying to sync with her own heart. She could feel her power growing as her chakra was restored.

* * *

He approached the girl. She was a way to get eternal life, he could feel it. He almost reached her but she flickered away and reappeared. She was on the other side of the spring, at the ready and a gold glow around her. She leapt across vanishing and slashing at him, lightning consuming one kunai and fire the other. She reappeared and he faltered.

"Kabuto," He said weakly as she turned to finish him. The medic nin appeared next to him and the two left.

* * *

He was surprised when she vanished and reappeared away from Orochimaru, a gold glow around her as well as a hint of blue chakra. He watched as she defeated Orochimaru and he fled with the help of a man named Kabuto. He was weakened. He watched as the cuts she had received healed before his very eyes. He moved back and away from the springs, turning before she finished undressing. He needed to report to the Hokage about this. She would be surprised by this development.

* * *

She was surprised when Sesshomaru appeared in front of her without a warning. She should have been used to this. He always did this when it came to him reporting things. It was early in the morning though and she had just got in.

"What is it?"

"Higurashi Kagome was attacked by Orochimaru." She stood quickly.

"What happened? Is she alright?" She looked serious now.

"She was almost captured but something happened. She had moved far too quickly away from him without warning. I had thought her chakra had run low. But when she reappeared there was a gold glow around her and I could feel that her chakra had been replenished. She had attacked and defeated him with kunai laced with fire and lightning. Before she could finish him off he fled. I had watched as the cuts he had given her fully healed before my very eyes."

"That isn't possible. She isn't in possession of a tailed beast. They are all accounted for."

"I know this." He sighed. "She had gotten upset with Bankotsu when he interrupted her meditation. She had said something about being close to grasping a light."

"You are telling me, Higurashi Kagome has succeeded in wounding Orochimaru to close to death."

"That is correct."

"We will have to take advantage of this. You will continue to further monitor Kagome, try to find out what was with that light."

"Hai, Lady Hokage." he bowed. "You might want to know that she moved far quicker than any tailed beast I have ever seen." He left.

She thought about what he said. If Orochimaru was injured then she needed to take him out now before he had the chance to recover.

"Shizune, get in here!"

"What do you need, Hokage-sama?" She was out of breath after running all the way from down the hall.

"Get me Hatake Kakashi, Uchiha Itachi, Jiraiya, Yamato, Hyuga Hiashi, and Taisho Inuyasha. I have a mission for them."

"Hai, Lady Hokage." And she vanished quickly.

* * *

He was with Sasuke when Shizune appeared. "Kakashi, the Hokage has a mission for you." He nodded and she ran off again.

"Continue to train. I will not know when I will be back." Sasuke nodded and watched as Kakashi vanished in a poof of smoke.

* * *

He was arguing with his father about his older brother when there was a knock at the door. "Sorry for interrupting, but Inuyasha, the Hokage wants to see you." He nodded and turned away from his father.

"I'll see you when I get back from the Hokage's office." He left.

* * *

Hiashi was surprised when he was summoned to the Hokage's office. He was hardly called upon anymore, being in charge of the Hyuga clan and all. He was standing next to Hatake Kakashi and Taisho Sesshomaru. Supposedly they were waiting on a few more people. He wondered why they were all here.

* * *

He was practicing and had nearly impaled Shizune with a kunai when she turned the corner. He placed the kunai away and looked at her.

"You needed something, Shizune?"

"Actually the Hokage wanted you for a mission." He nodded and as turned to leave he vanished in a poof of smoke.

He reappeared and could feel the Hyuga clan head glaring at him. He said nothing, just looked at the Hokage.

"We are waiting on two more people." She could see the Hyuga head wanting to attack the Uchiha heir. "Relax, Hiashi."

* * *

He was looking over the hot spring wall, taking notes of what he saw for his next book when he heard his name called. He was caught and several things were thrown at him. He left and looked at Shizune.

"Yes?"

"The Hokage wants you."

"Okay." He vanished.

* * *

The Hokage watched as Yamato walked in.

"Now that we are all here we can begin." She looked serious. "Last night one Higurashi Kagome was attacked by Orochimaru."

"Is she alright?" Kakashi asked.

"She is more than fine. She managed to greatly injure Orochimaru. He fled and is thought to be near death."

"A fourteen year old kunoichi managed to injure Orochimaru?" Hiashi asked, finding it hard to believe.

"Well, technically speaking, she is only thirteen," Kakashi corrected.

"Higurashi Kagome is no ordinary kunoichi," Itachi said. "She is a fast learner and is naturally fast. She holds a drive to train and learn. Something tells me that she will be fully capable of beating a good portion of the ninja here, ANBU included."

"That is not why we are here. We are wasting time." The Hokage looked serious. "I want you to track down Orochimaru and kill him. Destroy his body but bring back his head to verify his death. We must take the opportunity Higurashi Kagome has provided us with."

"Yes, Hokage-sama," they replied.

"Jiraiya is in charge." They nodded and were off.

Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. I will start working on the next chapter. Hopefully I finish that chapter tonight as well and post it. This was delayed because of a slight writer's block.


	13. Orochimaru's Defeat Kagome's Inner Light

_Chapter 13: Orochimaru's Defeat, Kagome's Inner Light_

"Inuyasha, I need you to track him down," Jiraiya said. "Hiashi, I will need you to scan the area with your eyes. Yamato, you will handle the others. Kakashi, Itachi, and myself will deal with Kabuto and Orochimaru." They nodded and started out.

"I picked out his scent. He is this way." Inuyasha leapt off, Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Itachi followed after him as Hiashi scanned the area. He could see roughly thirty people in the building, aside from Jiraiya, Kakashi, and Itachi.

"Yamato, there are thirty people in the building."

"I'm on it." And Yamato jumped through the trees and into the base.

* * *

The three followed Inuyasha into the heart of the base and down several floors. Inuyasha took on the five ninja blocking the door as the other three ran into the room. Itachi went for Kabuto as Jiraiya and Kakashi headed for Orochimaru's prone form. Kabuto was wide-eyed. Neither him or Orochimaru expected anyone to come after them. There was no way for anyone to know where he was or that he was weakened. They had to have someone in the area. They only thing they could think of was that someone was monitoring the girl that greatly wounded Orochimaru.

Jiraiya and Kakashi quickly struck Orochimaru as he tried to dodge and attack back, but he had already lost too much blood and barely any of his chakra had returned. Kabuto was strong, but he wasn't enough to take on this many ANBU and drag him out of here alive. There was no one he could transfer into. There wasn't enough time and no one bore the mark he needed. He groaned, Kakashi's Chidori connecting with him. He spat up blood, pain in his snake eyes.

"Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto gasped, pain going through his body. Itachi had blasted him with fire, his clothing flaming. His flesh was burnt and his throat was on fire. He had inhaled flame and his throat was sore. He coughed up blood. Itachi rammed several kunai into his vital organs. He was convulsing on the floor when more flames licked at his flesh.

Orochimaru wasn't doing any better. His vision was hazy as Kakashi and Jiraiya both struck, severing his head from his body. He died then and there. Kabuto soon flowed after.

"Is that all of them?" Inuyasha asked as everyone came in.

"The whole base is wiped out," Yamato said.

"I've verified it," Hiashi said.

"Kabuto is taken care of," Itachi said.

"Orochimaru is out of the picture," Kakashi said, holding up the head of the once great sannin.

"Gather all the dead bodies in the center field. When need to burn everything," Jiraiya said. "We will monitor the flames then head out when it all goes down. Put Orochimaru and Kabuto's heads in here." He threw the sack to Kakashi. Kakashi placed the head in the bag, followed by Itachi. They started to round up the dead bodies.

* * *

Bankotsu had worried when Kagome had gotten back late from the hot springs. She had said she was attacked but she had disposed of the threat and washed up. He had looked her over and found nothing wrong with her.

"I managed to grasp the light," she said. "It helped me fight off Orochimaru."

"You fought and survived Orochimaru?" She nodded. "Do you know who Orochimaru is?"

"Yes. Father told me about him, Jiraiya and Tsunade. He said they were the three great sannin. Orochimaru defected and then nothing else after that."

"What did he want with you?" He looked at her.

"He wanted to use me to breed for him a stronger body. I would rather die before that happened." He nodded.

"Get some sleep, Kagome. Tomorrow will be a long day."

"Night, Bankotsu." She climbed into bed and closed her eyes.

'You did well today, child. Sleep, there is still more for you to grasp. You have a hold of my power, but not yet yours.'

'Hai,' her mind mumbled tiredly. She felt a mental brush and she was asleep.

* * *

He returned and it was after lunch. Kagome was meditating as Bankotsu did drills to help increase his speed. There was that gold shine around her, and the mingled blue of her chakra. He was surprised that she had that glow. He wondered just how fast she really was. He would have to wait.

* * *

They returned and appeared in the Hokage's office, a bag in Jiraiya's hand.

"What do you have to report?"

"Orochimaru and Kabuto are dead. The sound nin in the base were killed and all bodies were disposed of properly," Itachi said. "The base was destroyed as well."

"Good. What proof do you have?"

Jiraiya upended the bag and both heads fell to the floor. She nodded.

"Destroy both heads." They nodded and she dismissed them.

She was surprised at how timely they had finished off Orochimaru. Was he seriously that weakened by the thirteen year old girl? She really couldn't wait to meet the girl.

* * *

It took her another three months to grasp her light. When she had found it, it was a dark blue, almost sapphire color. She was glad when this happened. She had been training for one year and nine months. She had two years and three months left of training. She would see if she could beat Bankotsu on the morning now that she had a grasp on her own inner power. Her chakra had grown by a long shot and it was still too much for her. She still felt like she did not fit in her own skin. Her power was large, but added with that gold light, it was a lot.

'Do not worry child, you have not fully developed yet. Your body will shift to take in the power.'

'Really?' She could now decipher that it was a male voice speaking to her.

'Yes.' He mind nuzzled her.

'When will you tell me who you are?'

'Soon child. Focus now.' She nodded. She exhaled and focused.

* * *

Bankotsu called it quits for the day and looked over to Kagome. She was cooking dinner, finished before him for once. "I'm going to go bathe, Kagome."

"Okay, Bankotsu. I'll be finished with dinner when you get back." He nodded and was gone through the trees. He pulled off his shirt and fishnet to reveal scars along his back, chest and abs. He undid his braid and had it pool around him. He pulled off his pants and underwear. There were scars on his hips, thighs and calves. He got in the water and dunked under. He surfaced and grabbed the shampoo and started to wash his hair. He let it set and got out to wash his body. He had to be careful because of the new lacerations on his body. He climbed in and washed off and rinsed out the shampoo. He conditioned his hair and rinsed it out. He climbed out and rung out his hair before dressing.

"Kagome, can you braid my hair?" He asked as he came into the clearing.

"Yes." She approached, brush in hand. She brushed out the tangles and dried it as much as she could before starting to braid his long hair. She took the hair tie and tied it off. "There you go. Do you need me to check out your wounds?"

"After we eat." She nodded and dished it out. She at and then gathered their dishes and set them off to the side. He pulled off his shirt and fishnet to give her a view of the lacerations. Some of them had scorch marks.

"Sorry about those." She sat him down and started to move through hand signs. She placed them over his wounds, sending chakra into the wounds and forcing them to heal faster.

"You shouldn't do that. Your chakra is low."

"You are slow, dear cousin." She pulled away. "All healed." She turned away. "I grasped my light today." She grabbed her stuff. "I am going to go bathe then head off to sleep." She left.

"I don't know what she is talking about." He sighed and looked down to see there were scars but the flesh was melded together faster than he thought. Most other medics still had to bandage them because, while they could mend muscle, they couldn't mend skin.

"I know it scarred. I haven't figured out how to make it not scar yet," Kagome said as she came into camp. "I'll figure it out soon though."

"Scars give you character," he said as he pulled his fishnet and shirt on. "Get some sleep, we have a long day ahead of us." She nodded and was off to sleep.

* * *

He was surprised when Kagome had moved quickly and out of the way of his dragon hammer. Her speed had nearly doubled over night and he was finding it hard to keep up with her. He was slacking in speed now and he would have to ask her for advice, something he had dreaded doing but he no choice now. She was going to leave him in the dust. He panted as she stole his sword from him. He dodged as she swung, her swing faster than his own. She even performed the dragon hammer, though he could tell she held back when it had hit him. He was pain and he called it quits. She had beat him several months before he thought she would.

"Sorry, Bankotsu." She dropped by his side, her chakra still close to full. "Hold still." She did hand signs and placed her hands over him. "I think I broke a few bones," she mumbled. Bones were harder to mend. But she would try anyways. She concentrated and used her chakra to hold the bones together. He grunted in pain at this. Her chakra went around the bone and it melded together. The cuts closed over, leaving only fine lines instead of ragged scars.

"There you go, good as new." She stood and started on lunch.

He moved around. He could have sworn he broke a few ribs but he felt no pain.

"I mended your broken bones, too, Bankotsu." She smirked and started to dish out food. "You won't delay our training." He grumbled but ate his food. It was good to him. He would make dinner this time though.

"Do you have any suggestions on how to bring up my speed."

"A few. You could always try weights. It should help you." He nodded. "I'm going to meditate after lunch."

* * *

He saw the defeat of Bankotsu and was impressed. She was fast and had managed to swing Bankotsu's heavy sword faster than Bankotsu could. She even used the dragon hammer for the first time as if it was nothing and mended Bankotsu without depleting her chakra. She had so much more chakra now than she did the day before and yes, her speed had nearly doubled. He wondered why, but he could not think on that now. He needed to observe her further and find out how she had managed that.

"This job is getting interesting, though is still boring at times." He sighed and rubbed his temples. Two more years of this bullshit, but hopefully he could convince the hokage to let him fight her. It would be fun for him. "Yes, that will be great."

* * *

'You have learned much child,' the voice praised. 'You will start to change again in the morning. You will be strong and beautiful. You will have to learn more things soon.'

'I understand,' she murmured back, not fully paying attention.

'You will learn how to get what you want, child.' He chuckled. 'That is how we are. How we were.'

'When will you tell me who you are?'

'Soon child. Soon all of your questions will be answered.' And the voice faded away.

Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. I am surprised that this story has over one hundred reviews. Thanks to those who review. Your input is valuable. But read, review, and ENJOY!


	14. Kiyko and the Truth

_Chapter 14: Kikyo and the Truth_

She was going about her duty as she did every day. She was a priestess because her clan had disowned her. She had no chakra and so sent her away with the task of protecting the famed jewel an ancestor of the clan made. It had cost her life and had wiped out almost all of the demon's in the lands. The rest were tailed beasts and sealed away or accounted for.

But she had a duty. It was to protect the jewel. She was handed the jewel and told to leave Konoha around the age everyone went to the academy. She knew she was a tarnish to the clan. She had no chakra. It was rare and unheard of for most clans. But the Higurashi clan hid it by sending them away. She was sad about this but she would not have been happy there anyway. She wasn't happy here either though. She missed being near family and friends. But she was away for close to eight years now. She doubted she would fit in there anymore. She never had fit in there anyways.

She heard screaming and ran to see the shrine on fire. The pedestal which the jewel rested on was surrounded by fire. She could not get the jewel without getting hurt or killed. She failed at her one responsibility to the clan; a clan that hated her for not being born with chakra.

There was a flash of light and where the jewel once laid was nothing but fire. She knew the shrine would go up in flames. She had to find the jewel though. It had a defense mechanism of its own and would move itself out of danger. She had to locate the jewel if it was the last thing she did.

* * *

For months she looked but could not find it anywhere. She could not sense it and there were no rumors of a jewel like the one she protected. She didn't know where to look or where to go and she could not go back to her clan without it. She had to find it. She didn't know what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands or if her clan found out she lost it. What could she do? She was traveling now as a priestess. She would help when she could but right now she was endlessly searching.

* * *

Prior to above passage- Around the time the jewel flashed-

* * *

She felt a pain in her hip and could hear a displeased growl from in her mind. She woke and groaned in discomfort that the pain in her hip.

'Take it out,' the voice grumbled in her head.

She felt around for a kunai, pain blinding her. She gripped it and brought it to her hip, the voice sounding just as pained as she felt. She used the kunai and dug into her hip, giving a cry of pain. She felt something hit the tip of the kunai and dug around before digging out what was causing her and the voice so much pain. A jewel spilt forth from her hip and the pain left. Blood slowly pooled under her.

Bankotsu turned to see the cause of the noise that woke him to see Kagome laying on the floor, a kunai tipped in blood in one hand and a pool of blood gathering beneath her. There was a round object next to her. He got up and ran to her side.

"Kagome! Are you alright?"

"Yeah, fine." She opened her eyes, able to see again. "There was a pain in my hip and that came out of it." She signaled to the jewel on the floor covered in her blood. "Can you stop the blood? I'm tired and that thing wiped out the energy I would have used to heal it myself." He nodded and applied pressure. He looked down at the jewel. He had never seen it before and was surprised that it had came out of his cousin.

He looked at her hip to see a seal forming around the hole in her skin. It was a sapphire color and looked like a fire emblem with a few forbidden kanji between the lines. Usually the only time something like that was used was when demons were sealed within vessels, like the kyuubi in the Uzamaki kid.

"Kagome, why is there a sealing symbol on your hip?"

"How should I know? It just appeared there." She didn't try to sit up. She was far too tired to try.

"There is something not right about this," he stated.

"You're telling me." She yawned. "I'm tired and my chakra is depleted after that. I'm going to bed." He nodded and watched her drift off to sleep. He picked up the jewel and placed it in her hand. It came from her so she was keeping it.

* * *

It was halfway through the third year that a woman stumbled into their camp. She seemed to spot Kagome and walked towards her, reaching out for something around her neck. Bankotsu stopped her.

"Kikyo?" He was surprised to see her.

"Bankotsu?" She smiled and hugged him. "How long has it been?"

"Almost nine years. What are you doing here?" He was confused. He thought she was supposed to be at a shrine.

"The shrine I was at was attacked and burned down. My charge had taken it upon itself to leave and I have been looking for it for almost a year now." She looked at the girl. She was wearing the jewel around her neck. "How did you manage across that jewel?"

"We didn't manage across it," Kagome said. "We have not left this clearing. As to how I got it, I dug it out of my side months ago when it was causing me pain and depleting my chakra. I was out of commission for a week because of it, but it does not do so now. What do you know about it?"

"I was placed in charge of protecting it almost nine years ago. I was told to take the jewel and go to a shrine and protect it, never to return to the clan."

"Then you must be the one Bankotsu told me about. He told me there was a woman that was born without chakra and that she was sent away to hid a flaw on the clan. Though I don't see how that is a flaw."

"Yes, that would be me. An ancestor created that jewel during a fight with demons. That was all that remains of her. You see, she turned to stone after that flew out of her chest. It is called the Shikon no tama."

"Midoriko made it then?" Kikyo nodded. "Then why did it end up in my hip?"

"I do not know how the Shikon works but it has a defense mechanism. I could not honestly tell you how it works." Kagome sighed, disappointed.

'Do not fret, child,' the voice rumbled. 'The jewel can give you the answer to that.' She nodded in her head and tried to concentrate on the jewel.

'Who is this?' A soft voice asked her.

'Higurashi Kagome. I was wondering why the jewel ended up in my hip.'

'Ah. Then I guess the remaining part of my soul was reincarnated. It took long enough.' It was a female voice. 'I would have liked it more if you had not ripped the jewel from your side. It would have been great being put to rest and the soul you have would have been whole.'

'If I had known that I would not have ripped it out, but you have to understand, it was hurting me really bad and had almost completely depleted my chakra, which could have killed me, and it had the voice in my head upset and in as much pain.'

'A voice in your head?'

'That is what I call him, since he won't tell me who he is.'

'I see. I will have to find a way back into your body, and this time do not rip me from your body. You will be weak for a week or so but stronger by the end of it.'

'Okay, but next time tell me so I never do that again.'

'Alright.'

Kagome opened her eyes to see Bankotsu and Kikyo staring at her.

"Are you okay?" Bankotsu asked.

"I am fine. According to Midoriko, the jewel went to my hip because I am the reincarnation of the portion of her soul that had not been trapped in the jewel. She was disappointed that I ripped the jewel out though."

"I would have been in trouble if you hadn't," Kikyo said.

"Why was she disappointed?" Bankotsu asked.

"Because if I had not, the jewel would have been no more and I would have had a complete soul. I would have been out of commission anyways for week, but in a lot of pain. She will try again too."

"I see." Kikyo looked at her.

"That still doesn't answer the question as to why you have a seal on your hip," Bankotsu stated.

"I don't know that answer either," Kagome said blandly.

"Can I have the jewel back now?" Kikyo asked.

"I don't know," Kagome said. "From what Midoriko said, she'll try to find a way back to my body so she can be put to rest and so I can have a complete soul." She sighed. "I'm going to go meditate." She walked away.

"The jewel is a part of Kagome," Bankotsu said.

"I was entrusted to guard it," she reasoned.

"You didn't do much of a job on that," he replied. "Look, Kagome is the next Higurashi clan leader, being the first born to our clan leader. She can get you back into the clan and possibly find a job for you as a medic in the hospital. She'll make something up about you going around researching medicine, just stay out of the way."

"I am a disgrace to the clan. They don't want me back," Kikyo reasoned.

"Her parents thought she was a disgrace, Kikyo. Look at her. She is strong and brave, but still so emotionally hurt. She is a skilled kunoichi and has the most chakra I have seen in my whole life. But her parents thought she was a disgrace because she learned defensive jutsu and had extremely low chakra when she was born. Look at her and tell me what you see?"

Kikyo looked at the young girl of almost fifteen. She was beautiful and she could see the clashing gold and sapphire in her aura and she now understood.

"She houses two souls," she whispered shocked. "One soul is her own and Midoriko's but the other. I don't know. It isn't harming her, but caressing her own aura, mingling like it was there since birth. I don't understand. How can it be possible? Who is the other soul?"

"That gives me very little answers," Bankotsu replied. "It would explain why she still feels like she doesn't fit in her own body, but it doesn't answer the question as to how she can heal faster than the kyuubi. Why she is so fast even without the body flicker technique, how she can wield my Banryuu when it is twice her weight."

"All feats easily met by a demon," Kikyo whispered. She looked at her distant cousin as she meditated. It still didn't make sense to her.

* * *

'I thought you should know who I am now,' the voice rumbled to her.

'It took long enough,' she replied.

'I am Toga, the ten fanged beast.'

'Toga,' she mumbled back to him. 'That still does not explain who you are.'

'I am the only fanged beast to ever exist. I was once a great demon dog general. I was close to death and a priestess had destroyed my body but she was not strong enough to destroy my soul. I wandered the realm for hundreds of years looking for a body that could house me. I came upon a woman that was pregnant and I could see the dwindling life in her pup. I entered her fetus and my soul melded with the one of the fetus. I melded myself with your soul, Kagome. You would be dead otherwise.' And he became silent. She had the truth. She doubted her father knew about any of this. She doubted anyone knew about this, safe her and her mother.

Author's Note: Three chapters in six hours. The most writing I've done for a story yet. I put in the truth early than I wanted but it just seemed to fit in this chapter. Tell me what you think.

It is around 11pm now and I have to be up in the morning for work. Read, review, and ENJOY!


	15. Training of a New Kind

_Chapter 15: Training of a New Kind_

Kakashi sighed. Now that he refused to sleep with women, they wanted to sleep with him. Had he known it would have happened this way, he would have played hard to get. But now, he seriously didn't want to sleep with any of them. He was focusing more on training Sasuke and his own training, as well as the garden he had flourishing in his back yard. There was almost flowers in every square inch of the yard. He had pulled out the weeds at least once a week and would clean the house on the weekends. He really didn't know how he fell into this routine, but he had. He had even bought a few cookbooks and had tried his hand at cooking. He wasn't any good at it, but he was improving. He saved money cooking for himself anyways.

But he had just returned from a mission to measure the growth of Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto. Naruto had returned earlier than anticipated and the Hokage wanted to see how much they had grown as ninja. So they were sent out to the nearest sound base. They were still together, even though Orochimaru and Kabuto were dead. They were to attack the base and kill as many of the sound as possible. Sound was still attacking Konoha and they had to push them back and away from the borders of Konoha. They had done well, but they were all injured so they were in the hospital now getting their injuries treated. The woman didn't seem to know who she wanted more, him or Sasuke. She was eyeing both of them as if they were meat.

Sakura's eyes were on Sasuke's lithe form. That was no surprise to him, though her eyes did drift to him. Yes, he was more toned than Sasuke and Naruto were, but he trained more than they did as well. It disturbed him that his student would look at him in such a way, though he had a feeling that if it were Kagome that had looked at him like that, he wouldn't have been so uncomfortable. But he knew Kagome would not have looked anyways. She would have been so absorbed in a book.

The medic seemed to make up her mind and approached him, becoming as unduly familiar with his person than he wanted. He sighed when she tried to flirt with him and ask him the same questions she always did. His answer was always the same though. He would continue to reject her. She and all the other females just didn't get it. When would he come across a female that didn't go for looks? Kagome didn't count because she wasn't here in the village right now.

"Sasuke-kun, want to go eat after this?" Sakura asked.

"I need to get back to the compound," he replied. "Mother will want me home for the evening meal." She looked down trodden and turned her eyes to Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei, can you teach me that one thing when we are done here?" She batted her eyes at him.

"I highly doubt you have an affinity for lightning," he commented. "Besides, I need to give the Hokage my report then get home for some dinner." She sighed.

"Hey Sakura, want to train after this?" Naruto asked.

"No thanks, Naruto." She brushed him off and left the hospital.

"Get some rest, Naruto," Kakashi said. "We have a hard day of training tomorrow."

"Hai, Kakashi-sensei!" He ran off.

"You did well today, Sasuke. We'll work more on it later." He nodded and shoved his hands in his pockets before heading to the Uchiha compound. Kakashi headed home.

* * *

Kikyo sat there and watched as the two fought using hand to hand combat, jutsu, and summons. She was surprised to see that Kagome's summon was a giant white dog. It was powerful. Bankotsu's summon, however, was a white tiger. It was small compared to the dog. The few days she spent with them was amazing. Kagome was fast and powerful. Bankotsu was agile and quick witted. The two were so amazing to watch. She wished she was able to do that. She didn't have chakra though.

Her duty was to the jewel. Since Kagome was, technically speaking, the jewel, she had to protect Kagome, which in turn would mean she would have to return to the village. If she could be close to these two, then it wouldn't be too bad. These two were entertaining and joked around a lot when they were not training, and Kagome and Bankotsu could both cook. She was glad to have stumbled upon these two.

"Kikyo," Kagome called. They had finished their spar and Bankotsu was working on making lunch. "I know you do not have chakra, but there is a way for you to do some of what we are able to do. Midoriko knows a few techniques and is willing to tell me how you can do it."

"Really?" She looked a little surprised.

"Yup. Of course a part of it is meditation. You can do that as Bankotsu and myself spar in the morning. Then in the afternoon I can tell you what you will need to do."

"That sounds great."

"I know how it feels to be called a disgrace to the clan. I figured we could both prove them wrong, ne?" Kikyo nodded and couldn't help but smile. Kagome was cute and kind and was trying to help her, in her own way. "You might have to help with the cooking too."

"I suck at cooking," Kikyo commented.

"Bankotsu thought that too, but he is a great cook." Kagome grinned, her eyes bright. "It takes time and practice, like everything in life. Besides, you have to learn how to cook or you'll never get a husband." Kagome laughed good naturedly. "At least, that is what Bankotsu looks for in a woman." Kikyo couldn't help but giggle.

"Alright."

"Good." Kagome stood up straight. "Now to eat." She sat down after Bankotsu handed her a plate she dug in as he handed Kikyo a plate as well. He sat down and started to eat as well, hearing what Kagome had said to Kikyo. Yes, he thought the clan needed to be set straight.

* * *

Kikyo collapsed tired. Who knew Kagome would be such a hard teacher? The meditation was easy enough but what came after it was hard. Ugh. Was everyday going to be that hard?

"We have a year and a little under a half to get your training done," Kagome said. "Tomorrow, when you meditate, try to grasp your inner light. Some things will come easy after that, but it took me six months to get the first light and another three to get the second light. You should get it in a few months if you work at it." Kikyo nodded. "Let's go bathe, Bankotsu has dinner." Kikyo nodded and followed after her.

"Is training always going to be that hard?"

"Maybe. It'll get easier when you get used to it." Kagome pulled off her clothes and got in the spring. "I'm used to so much training so I don't think it's hard." She sighed. "Come on, the water is great."

"Won't anyone se us?"

"The only ones here are us, Bankotsu and that ANBU that is almost always there, but he never comes over to the springs. He doesn't know that I know he is there." She leaned her head back. "Bankotsu stays away from the spring until I have returned to camp. Besides, he's my cousin. It would be disturbing if he tried to look in on me." Kikyo nodded and got in, feeling assured no one would spy on them.

"This water does feel great." Kikyo relaxed in as her sore muscles relaxed.

"Come here, Kikyo." Kikyo moved closer. "Now relax." She started to rub Kikyo's sore shoulders and neck. She massaged Kikyo's scalp and grabbed her shampoo. She massaged the shampoo into Kikyo's scalp. "Let that set and wash using this." She handed her a bottle and Kikyo started to wash herself. She rinsed it all off and relaxed. Kagome washed her own hair and body before rinsing off. "Come on, dinner should be done." She got out and dried off before pulling on her clothes. Kikyo did the same and the two of them walked back into camp.

"About time," he complained before giving them the plates. They sat and ate and when Bankotsu finished he went to bathe in the springs.

"He'll be a while," Kagome said. "He is worse than a girl, though he does have more hair to wash than I do." Kikyo laughed at this.

When Bankotsu came back he stood in front of Kagome with his back to her. She knew what he wanted so stood and dried his hair to the best of her ability. She grabbed a brush and brushed his silky raven hair. She braided it neatly and tied it off, patting his shoulder in a signal he was good to go.

"Could you also treat my wounds?" She nodded and he pulled off his shirt and fishnet. Kikyo couldn't help but ogle his body. Were all ninja that sculpted? She didn't know. She had never seen a man half dressed before. He was beautiful and the scars made him look dangerous. She had watched as the wounds he had closed over, leaving thin marks even though they were large lacerations. She had wondered what it would like to run her hands over the sculpted body of a man.

"There you go." She smirked. Kikyo and her were distant cousins. Bankotsu and Kikyo were also distant cousins, but Kikyo was also slightly older than Bankotsu. There would not have been anything wrong with the two getting together but she knew that there was someone that suited Kikyo better and someone that suited Bankotsu better.

"Thanks. They were starting to get annoying." She chuckled. "You won't be able to be this open when we get back to the village, Kagome."

"I know, but I will always joke around with you." He grinned and ruffled her hair. She scowled and batted his hands away before brushing her hair. "And Kikyo will make the three musketeers." Bankotsu chuckled.

"I doubt they would let her be on a team with us," Bankotsu said.

"You would never know," Kagome said, especially when she was training Kikyo. She could see Kikyo's potential.

* * *

Itachi looked at his brother. He seemed annoyed with something but there was no telling what it could possibly be. He didn't much care. He stopped caring when Sasuke saw him as a rival instead of a brother. It got annoying watching Sasuke try to best him. He knew it wasn't possible. Sasuke didn't posses enough of a drive to become better than him. Now Kakashi was a force to be reckoned with, as well as Hiten. In Bankotsu's absence Hiten had stepped up. Of course, he wanted to see just how strong Kagome was when she returned in a little under a year and a half. He couldn't wait for that.

But missions had gotten dull since they killed off Orochimaru, though admittedly, they would not have had such an easy time killing him had Kagome not greatly weakened him. He wondered what she was capable of if she were able to best the snake sannin. He would have to wait.

"Itachi, can you go get your brother? It's almost dinner time."

"He is already on his way back," he said in a monotone.

"Alright." He loved his mother but sometimes the things she had him do for her were a waste of time. Who was he kidding? He needed to waste time. Maybe he would have to extend the amount of time he trained a day. It would give him something to do when there were no missions.

* * *

Hinata trained day and night. She had to get strong if Naruto was ever going to notice her. She blushed. She knew it was childish to have a crush on someone but she couldn't help it. He was everything she wasn't and as they say, opposites usually attract. Yes, she admitted she was different than when they were is school. She had even decided to grow her hair out because she figured Naruto liked long hair. She still wore the same old big clothes, but she did it for a reason. She was shy and reserved. Where other girls her age flaunted what they had, she hid what she had.

She blushed when she saw Naruto walking towards her direction. She hid in an alley in the shadows. He seemed a bit down but she figured it was because Sakura turned him down again. She sighed sadly. Why did he like someone that constantly abused him? Didn't he see that he deserved better than that? She could treat him the way he should be treated. She just hasn't realized how to tell him that she liked him. She was hopelessly in love with him and she didn't even know how to show him, though she often tried with small presents here and there, but she guessed he saw it as a friend trying to take care of a friend. She would have to definitely work on that.

Author's Note: To answer a few questions, Toga, the ten fanged beast, and Sesshomaru's father are two completely different entities. I have called him Inu no Taisho because I could not come up with another name for him. As you see, Kikyo is hanging around Kagome as she sees Kagome as what she needs to protect and she saw her first flash of male half nakedness. You also saw a glimpse into what is going on with the others. Read, review, and ENJOY! I am off to write another chapter.


	16. Lessons Learned

_Chapter 16: Lessons Learned_

The fourth year had started off without many problems. Kikyo's training had gone great and she was just as skilled in hand to hand as any jounin would be, and she was able to erect barriers. She had managed to learn how to convert her spirit energy into the element she needed to manipulate. She was just as strong with her spirit energy as a chuunin would be with chakra. So she was pretty much balanced. But they had decided to find a way to work as a team of three. This would truly be the hard thing.

"So how are we going to do this?" Kikyo asked.

"There is a sound base near here. Sound has been attacking Konoha. We will go to the base and fight them all and destroy the base," Bankotsu explained.

"Okay," Kagome said. "It'll be a bit different, but let's go."

Bankotsu leapt off, the two following quickly behind him. They reached the base and the three weaved around, complimenting the others' movements with their own. Kikyo was not as fast as the others but she was fast enough and she was able to duck and dodge around Bankotsu's swings. Kagome moved fluidly and quickly, almost seeming to never touch the ground, but managed to still be in sight. Bankotsu ducked and swung his sword, turning and pivoting to take on the next threat as the girls covered his back and moved around him. They trusted the other not to harm them and it paid off when the whole base was empty. It was like watching a very complicated but beautiful dance.

"Well, now to destroy the bodies and the base." The two nodded and all three of them performed some sort of fire technique, though Kagome's was by far larger and more impressive. The three managed to get out of there unscathed. "It was nice working with you ladies."

"I never thought I'd be able to do any of that," Kikyo commented.

"What have I told you, Kikyo?" Kagome asked.

"It takes time and practice," she recited.

"There you go. Now, can we head back to camp?"

"As soon as the base is gone and the flames go out. It would be irresponsible of us to let the fire get out of hand," Bankotsu said.

They waited for what seemed to be hours before all that remained was charred remains and a raging inferno. Kagome did hand signs and there was a downpour of rain. Kikyo and Bankotsu hid under the trees while Kagome stood in the rain, watching the flames sputter and die. She waited a few more minutes before canceling out the jutsu. She did more hand signs and the ground rumbled and trees pushed up from beneath the charred remains, causing them to crumble and the trees to replace the once base.

"Let's go," Bankotsu said and turned to head back to camp. He wanted to take it slow so he could drink in what he had just learned about Kagome. He never knew she had that kind of power.

* * *

Sesshomaru thought it would be a good time to report back to the Hokage after watching Kagome raise trees where the sound base once stood. He was sure she would like to know this information, and that the three Higurashi were training as if they were a team. Yes, he knew Kikyo had no chakra but she was still skilled in hand to hand and could still some how draw forth fire. He knew it was Kagome's doing. Somehow she was always involved.

He moved quickly. He wanted to get the chance to sleep in his own bed for once, though he had to admit that Kagome was coming along nicely. She was beautiful and had grown taller. She was just now starting to curve out at the age of fifteen. Her pale skin was no longer seeming to be sickly, and instead looked much like moon shine. Her lithe form was toned and her breasts were growing. He had to get that out of his head. She wasn't even sixteen yet.

He sighed and appeared in the Hokage's office. Her eyebrow twitched and he knew why. He would have figured she'd be used to this by now.

"What do you have to report?"

* * *

Kikyo sighed. It was a long night but she now knew what she was capable of doing and she would continue to train, even when they got back to Konoha. She never felt this good in her life and she wanted to be able to always feel this good. She smiled as she soaked in the spring. Kagome was a tough teacher she probably would have never known what she was capable of otherwise. She was glad that she was able to learn how to work with Kagome and Bankotsu.

"Kagome, how much longer is your training?"

"A year. There is still some things I need to learn before I get back to Konoha. You will learn many more things in that time. Hopefully you'll be able to keep up, at least with Bankotsu." She chuckled at her joke.

"What else am I in for?" Kikyo asked.

"Well, we need to up your speed so I will be helping you and Bankotsu with that after lunch. Before lunch you will meditate and I will be doing this special training Bankotsu wanted me to do six months from now. He didn't anticipate me finishing the other two trainings in less time. We will probably return early to Konoha." Kikyo nodded.

"Bankotsu. What is he in Konoha?"

"He is an ANBU. One of the best there is," Kagome replied.

"Really?" She nodded. "He seems less skilled than you."

"He doesn't have nearly as much chakra as me. He is also slower than I am. It doesn't mean he is less skilled," Kagome explained. "I learned a lot of what I know from him, I just have the ability to use more than just two elements. It takes a long time to be able to use multiple elements. It is a blessing if someone is able to use two, like Bankotsu."

"Then will you be an ANBU when we get back to Konoha?"

"I will go through the ANBU training school as well as the test when we get back to Konoha. I am sure the Hokage will want to see what I am capable of when we return. You might be tested as well, so be ready." Kikyo nodded as Kagome looked down at the jewel around her neck. "I will have to find a way to get the jewel back into my body so Midoriko can be put to rest and fully reincarnate. I will be weakened afterwards, but you wouldn't have the responsibility of guarding the jewel anymore."

"I know." Kikyo stood. "We should get back to camp now." Kagome nodded and got out as well. The rest of the night was the same routine.

* * *

'Child,' the voice of Toga rumbled through her mind. 'I will teach you a few things now. One, you will learn how to get what you want when you want it. There are many ways to go about it. You could use seduction. It is easy on men and sometimes women. Seduction does not mean you have to sleep with them. There is also black mail. If you act like you know something they don't want anyone to know then you could easily get them to do what you want. There is also the puppy dog eyes. Everyone falls for the puppy dog eyes. And there are always favors. Do something for them but take back double when the time comes.' He seemed to grin at this one. 'Two, always follow your instincts. They are always right. Three, lies have scents. You will always know when someone is lying to you or is being deceitful. You will also be able to know when something pleases your mate.' Kagome tried to fight back a blush at this.

'Being able to please your mate will be important, child,' Toga rumbled. 'If you know how to please your mate he will never stray and he will try to please you in turn.'

'Can we get past that now?'

'Yes.' He seemed to think about something. 'Four, think on your feet. That is always useful. Five, always be on guard. There is more but I'm sure you will know what to do.'

'Yes, Toga,' she replied. 'Can I go to sleep now?'

'Rest. I will teach you the art of seduction later.' He silenced his voice and his presence brushed across her mind, lulling her to sleep.

* * *

Three and a half years of training had gone by quickly and Kikyo was wearing weights like Bankotsu. Bankotsu's weights were heavier now and Kikyo was surprisingly strong. Bankotsu had trained with Kagome a sword bigger and heavier than his Banryuu. He didn't want to admit that he had a hard time carrying it. She was swift and fast with it. She had learned how to wield it like he could wield his Banryuu. She had no name though. Kagome hadn't named her and it was because the sword had not told her its name.

"Well, I'm going to try something," Kagome said out of no where. She took out a kunai and stabbed it into her side, in the middle of the seal. She yanked the jewel from around her neck and shoved it deep into the cut, hissing in pain. Toga voiced his complaint to only her and she fell exhausted. "That hurt." She laid down. "If this works, I will be weakened for a week. If not, I will have to dig the jewel back out. You two should train together." They nodded, but both were worried about her. She just closed her eyes and tried focusing on something besides the blinding pain. When it became too much for her, she passed out.

* * *

She was in and out of consciousness for a week, but every day the lump that was the jewel decreased in size before it was nothing. The sheer size of her chakra had grown and she had groaned when she woke up. She sat up to see the other two still asleep. She started the fire and breakfast. She wanted everything to just go faster. She was tired of being away from the village. She was actually getting bored and restless. She blamed it on Toga and his seemingly endless amounts of energy.

"Bankotsu, can we go back to Konoha now? I'm bored," she complained.

"Well, you did finish the training earlier than planned, but I told the Hokage four years as well as your parents. They do not want you returning a day sooner." He yawned. "Now we are going to train."

"In what? I've already beat you at everything."

"You do have a point there. Well, we could always train Kikyo." Kagome sighed. "What is it?"

"I'm restless and bored. I want to get up and move, not sit here all day." She blamed her restless mood on Toga.

"I'll tell you what, we'll walk around then head back to Konoha."

"Okay." She stood and packed her clothes and stuff. Kikyo was stretching and yawning. "Let's go. There are a few things I want to try out." Bankotsu nodded. Kikyo stood and packed the few things she had. They started out after breakfast.

* * *

"Kagome, we don't have money for food," Bankotsu said.

"Don't worry about it," she smirked. "I'll get us food. Just wait here." She walked off. She hoped Toga's training paid off. The first part for seduction was looking the part so she unzipped her vest, allowing a bit of cleavage to show. She pulled the bottom of her slitted skirt so that it was tucked at her waist. She wore nothing but fishnet under the vest, needing to get a new bra. None of them had fit her anymore. She looked around for her victim as Toga had instructed and stalked up to the vendor.

"Excuse me, sir," she said in a low, sultry tone.

"How can I help you?" He looked her over. His eyes stayed on her cleavage. He swallowed.

"Well I just got into town after being robbed by bandits. I was wondering if you could help me out." She gave a bat of her eyes and a slight pout and he swallowed again.

"Uh, what do you need?" He asked. He was nervous. No pretty girls ever talked to him.

"Well I am starving. I haven't eaten in a couple days. If you could provide me a bit of food, it would be extremely helpful."

"Anything for you." He placed stacks of cooked kabobs in a plastic takeout box with some vegetables and rice before handing it to her. "If I can be of any further assistance, just ask," he said, a heated blush and a nose bleed coming over him as she smiled at him and took the offered food.

She walked away, receiving praise from Toga on a job well done.

* * *

Bankotsu watched his cousin work. He couldn't hear what she was saying but he could see her swaying her hips seductively as she approached a vendor. He seemed to blush and hand her some food before she walked away. She smirked towards them and they headed for an alley.

"I never knew you had it in you. Where did you learn that?" Bankotsu asked as they started to eat.

"I'll tell you later." She ate her portion and smirked. That wasn't so hard.

Author's Note: Just to clear something up, Toga is a ten _fanged _beast. He is the only _fanged _beast there is. I hope that cleared that up and Toga is not Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's father. He is a different entity. This is the second chapter of today. I might have them return to the village in the next chapter, I might not. I don't know yet. But read, review, and ENJOY!


	17. Haku and Zabuza

_Chapter 17: Haku and Zabuza_

For five months they traveled and watched as Kagome gained food in some way, shape or form, not once leaving their sight. They had wondered about it, but she said she would tell them later. They never knew that Kagome could be so persuasive. But right now they were in a non-ninja village in mist, roughly a week's journey from Konoha. Kagome had brought them here and they had wondered why. But she seemed to know where she was going as she navigated through the village and stopped at a house. She knocked on the door and it opened to reveal a boy a few years younger than her.

"Can we help you?" He asked. He looked at the woman strangely.

"Well, I wanted to visit an old friend by the name of Inari." He glared at her. "Don't tell me you forgot all about me already, Inari," Kagome said in a taunting voice.

"Who are you?"

"Kagome?" A new voice whispered from the corner of a building before she was tackled by a figure that was taller than her, but still as feminine as ever. "By Kami, it is you."

"Haku?" She looked at him. He was slightly taller than her but he still held that kind look in his eyes.

"Zabuza, Kagome came for a visit," he called, and the taller demon of the mist came into view.

"Kagome." He looked her over. "You've gotten stronger. How is Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke?" He asked.

"I don't know. I've been away from the village training for almost four years," she replied.

"You look great," Haku said, blushing.

"You don't look bad yourself." She chuckled as his blush darkened.

"I didn't recognize you," Inari said as he hugged Kagome. He had tears in his eyes. "Things had gotten so much better here after the bridge was built. Come inside. You should say hello to mother and jii-chan." He opened the door and the group followed him in. "Mother, jii-chan, there is someone here that wanted to say hello," he called. His slightly older mother came into view as well as the old bridge builder.

"Oh, hello. Do I know you?" She asked.

"It's me, Kagome," Kagome said. "I thought I would stop by for a visit, like I promised." She smiled kindly.

"I didn't recognize you. You've grown so much. And look at you. You're so beautiful. You are so different from that awkward little girl all those years ago. Who are your friends?"

"Ah, how rude of me." She bowed her head in apology. "They are Bankotsu and Kikyo, both cousins of mine. We have been training for the past few years."

"It is nice meeting you," she said to the two.

"So where is that loud mouthed brat?" the bridge builder asked.

"I believe he is in the village. I haven't seen him for close to four years now." She looked at the bridge builder. "When I get back to the village I'll remind Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi to come visit you. I am sure they could use the break." They nodded. "The village looks a lot better now."

"Yes, well we have been prospering since the bridge was built. More merchants come out here and our food supply has stabilized," the bridge builder said. "And Zabuza and Haku keep ninja from invading and has stopped any fights that could have broken out. We are living in peace now."

"That's good." She smiled. "Zabuza, do you think you could spar with me? I need an opponent other than my dear cousin Bankotsu."

"Why not?" They walked out onto a clearing, everyone following them. Zabuza pulled his large sword from his back as Kagome pulled her great halberd from her back. "Are you sure you could handle something like that?" He asked.

"I have been working with her for almost a whole year, and with Bankotsu's Banryuu before her. I think I can manage." She got in the ready and Bankotsu gave the signal. They both charged forward and Zabuza swung just as Kagome did. There swords clashed but Kagome threw him back like it was nothing. He landed carefully, shocked that she was able to force him back. No one was able to do that. He watched as she leapt forward and vanished, moving too fast for the human eye to see. He dodged at the last minute, but was still grazed across the stomach. Blood spilt forth and he had to dodge again. He went through the hand signs and produced water clones. They were easily cut down a second later and the mist rolled in. Kagome didn't stop though, continuing to move quickly. She concentrated and managed to pull forth Toga's eyes to see through the mist.

The watched on and Haku was surprised. No one ever bested Zabuza when it came to the strength of the sword, but she easily pushed him back and was now fighting with him fiercely, moving too fast to pick up on and destroying water clones as they appeared. The mist didn't even give him an advantage. But soon it was over. Zabuza was disarmed and was pinned. Kagome was straddling his hips and had her halberd at his throat.

"I win." She smirked down at him and got off him, placing the halberd back on her back before helping Zabuza up.

"You are faster than Kakashi," he commented.

"Yup. I probably should have held back a bit of my speed," she commented. "It would have been a longer fight if I had."

"Are you alright, Zabuza?" Haku asked. He could see the many cuts on Zabuza.

"I can take care of him in a jiffy," Kagome said before going through hand signs. She placed her hands over Zabuza's chest and watched as all the cuts closed completely, leaving not a trace of damage. "Good as knew." She grinned and picked up his sword. "Hmm. Bankotsu, his sword is heavier than yours." She swung it around a few times. "But it isn't as balanced as your Banryuu." She handed it to Zabuza. "It isn't as heavy as my Kagena." She pulled her halberd from her back and handed it to him. He grabbed it and his eyes widened. Her halberd was heavier than his sword. He handed it back and watched as she easily secured it to her back. He did the same to his sword.

"You really have gotten stronger," he said as he looked into her bright sapphire eyes. They were different back then. They held none of the depth back then as they did now. She was beautiful, he could not deny that. "You've changed so much. You aren't that little girl I made that deal with so many years ago."

"But she is still there." She placed his hand over her heart. "She plays happily in my heart, glad to be free of her childish burdens." She smiled up at him and he lightly blushed. She wasn't a child anymore. She was closer to being a woman now. She released his hand and it dropped to his side. Yes, she wasn't a child anymore.

* * *

They had helped out around the village for three weeks, Kikyo healing the ill as Kagome fixed broken roofs and helped with the harvest. Bankotsu took guard duty with Zabuza and Haku. They had gotten to know each other better and Zabuza learned that Bankotsu was protective of Kagome, like a big brother. He had found out that both Kikyo and Kagome had been called disgraces to the clan, but he had seen how Bankotsu, Kagome, and Kikyo worked as a team to take out a giant group of sound that was trying to attack the village. Him and Haku had watched as the three danced around one another, the sound falling to the ground. He had learned that the Higurashi trio was a force he never wanted to face. They were fast and could easily defend the other's back, using fire and lightning and earth to throw the enemy off but never harmed the other. Yes, they made for a good team, like him and Haku made for a good team.

But every man had a secret desire. His was to settle down and start a family. Haku wanted to fight by his side forever, but he knew Haku hated fighting. Haku fought because he fought. If he settled down, Haku would have nothing else to fight for. Perhaps he would have Haku go with them. He had found the woman he wanted to settle down with. And he wanted Haku to find someone for his own. Yes, Zabuza would admit that Kagome was attractive, but he didn't like her like that. She was like a kid sister, a really hot kid sister, but a kid sister non-the-less. He was going to propose to Inari's mother. Yes, she was older than him by a few years but that didn't matter to him. What mattered was their happiness.

"Haku, when they go, I want you to go with them."

"But what about you, Zabuza?" He looked up at his master.

"I know what I want, Haku. I want to stay here and settle down and be the father Inari never had. I want to make Tsunami happy and I want to marry her."

"If that is what you want," Haku said.

"I want you to find the same kind of happiness, Haku. That happiness might be in Konoha. I know you do not like to fight but please, go with them. Fight with them and fight for your happiness."

"Alright, Zabuza. You were like the father I never had and I thank you for taking care of me." Zabuza nodded and hugged the younger male. "Promise me you will always be happy and that you will continue to look after this village."

"This village is my home now," Zabuza commented. "I would protect my home with my life." They drew back and Haku smiled at him.

"Home is where the heart is," Haku commented.

"Your heart will find its home," Zabuza said. Haku smiled.

"Hey, Bankotsu. It's time to head back to Konoha," Kagome called at the trio. "We've almost been gone four years and I am getting restless again."

"I'm coming," Bankotsu yelled back. "Bye, Zabuza, come Haku." He started to walk off with Haku. "We'll be sure to come back for another visit, and you better invite us to the wedding," Bankotsu said, Haku nodding and Zabuza chuckling.

"I will." He watched them go. Yes, he would miss Haku, but he knew Haku had a lot more going for him and Kagome would help him find happiness.

* * *

Kagome paid Haku no mind as they traveled back to Konoha. She was restless but she wasn't in a big hurry. She liked the quiet right now and she knew that when she got back to the village she would have to listen to Sakura's banshee shriek. She winced at the thought and Bankotsu patted her on the back.

"It won't be that bad to be back on the village," he stated.

"That isn't what I am worried about," she said dryly. "I don't want to listen to the banshee screaming to the point my ears bleed."

"Banshee?" Kikyo questioned, a little worried.

"Haruno Sakura, fan girl of the Uchiha family and the banshee who likes to yell. I don't know how Naruto could like her," she commented.

"The pink haired girl?" Haku asked and Kagome nodded. "She really was annoying," Haku commented. The down fall of Zabuza's request.

"I wonder if I could bind her mouth shut," Kagome mused out loud. "Well, I could always black mail her into silence, at least for a little while." Haku nodded at this.

"How much further is the village?" Kikyo asked.

"About a day of travel," Kagome said. "If we don't stop for sleep we'll be there at sunrise."

"Admittedly, if I can sleep in a bed for once, then a night of sleep doesn't sound bad," Kikyo admitted.

"I hear you," Bankotsu replied and looked at them. Yes, the three musketeers had somehow become the fantastic four. Haku was a great fighter and had somehow picked up on how to fight with them so it was a welcomed change. Change wasn't always bad.

* * *

They came to the gates of Konoha and looked up. The sun was just rising and they could see the two ninja on guard duty. One she recognized as Nara Shikamaru, and the other looked like Akamichi Choji, only he wasn't fat, instead his form was muscular. She grinned. She returns to Konoha and the first people she sees was Yamanaka Ino's teammates. She sauntered through the gate with the other three to be stopped by Shikamaru and Choji. She handed him her little book that everyone in Konoha had. He looked at it and his eyes widened in shock before they both licked their suddenly dry lips. She took back her book and the four of them walked to the Hokage tower.

Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. I hope you enjoy it. In the next chapter you will see the affect of her return to the village. I am off to write the next chapter! If you need any writing tips, feel free to send me a message and I will answer any questions you might have, also I am a beta reader if anyone needs one.


	18. Reunited With Team Seven

_Chapter 18: Reunited with Team Seven_

Tsunade became annoyed when four figures came into her office. Of course she didn't know who any of these people were. Her eyebrow twitched and she looked at them.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my office?" She asked. It was too early to be dealing with anything right now.

"I am Higurashi Bankotsu and I have returned with Higurashi Kagome after her four years of training. I do not know if you have been informed about it or not."

"Which one of you is Higurashi Kagome?" She asked.

"I am," Kagome said as she stepped forward.

Tsunade looked her over. She had long raven colored hair that came to her thighs, bright sapphire eyes, moon kissed skin, a sapphire crescent moon in the middle of her forehead and what appeared to be black slashes on her wrists and clavicles. If there were more she couldn't see them. But in short the woman was beautiful, and she almost feel the power she held.

"And the other two?"

"I am Higurashi Kikyo. I was sent out to be a priestess because of my lack of chakra." Tsunade looked her over. She looked sort of like Kagome but held no sort of marking on her. She still felt powerful though, just not nearly as powerful as Kagome.

"And you?"

"I am Haku. I specialize in ice techniques." She nodded as she took in his appearance. He was a bit feminine in the face but still held a lithe figure, much like a male teenager.

"I wasn't expecting you two back for another few hours, and I wasn't expecting you, Haku, though I was informed about you about a year ago."

"Let me guess, that ANBU that was tailing us was sent by you or the prior Hokage to monitor me," Kagome asked.

"You knew you were being monitored?"

"About half way through the training," Kagome admitted. "Am I right to assume that you know of some of my abilities?" Tsunade nodded. "Do you mind if we go now? We only came to check in and we have been traveling for over a day to get here at this time."

"Go, get some rest. You will start the ANBU course tomorrow and I will be wanting to test the four of you." They nodded and walked out of the office. "I was not expecting to see them until the afternoon," she mumbled and went back to sleep on her desk.

* * *

"Hey, Bankotsu, why don't you take Kikyo to the compound? I'm going to go to Kakashi's to sleep," she said and he nodded. They had dropped Haku off at a hotel so he could get some rest. She watched the two go before she ran off and climbed in the window to the room she had stayed in. She was surprised it was so clean and there was no dust in sight. The bedroom door was even closed and the bed looked like it had just been cleaned. But she was far too tired to think about anything right now. Instead she climbed into the welcoming bed and was asleep in moments. It felt good to sleep in a bed for once.

* * *

Kakashi, Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura were in the middle of training when Choji ran into the clearing with Shikamaru following him at a more leisure pace. Shikamaru looked bored and annoyed and Choji looked like he was happy. There was a silly smile on his face.

"Hey!" He ran up to them and they gathered around to see what the two wanted. "Shikamaru and myself were on guard duty this morning. You will not believe what we saw around sunrise this morning."

"What is it, Choji?" Naruto asked.

"We saw Kagome enter the village with two men and a woman."

"What is so special about that?" Sakura asked, not really wanting to hear about Kagome.

"That is right, Kagome was supposed to return today with Bankotsu," Kakashi said. "Has anyone seen her around town?"

"No. She headed for the Hokage's house. I'm want to assume she and the others went to get some rest. It looked like they have been traveling for a while," Choji said.

"Thank you, Choji," Kakashi said and the two left. "Go ahead to lunch. I want to talk to the Hokage." The three nodded and he was gone before they knew it.

"So is it true, that Kagome is back?" He asked the Hokage.

"Yes, she was in here with three others just after sunrise. I believe one of them was named Haku."

"Haku is here?" She nodded and he was gone. He never heard her head connect with the table again.

He looked around the village and could not find a single clue as to where Bankotsu, Haku, or Kagome was. He sighed and headed home. He entered his house only to hear humming and to smell what smelled like food. He entered his kitchen to find a woman shorter than him in front of the stove, long raven hair hid her form.

"Took you long enough to come find me," the woman commented.

"Do I know you?" He asked. He didn't recognize her voice.

"Well I would hope so, Kakashi," she commented. She turned around with a pot in hand. She walked to the set table and carefully dumped the contents into a large bowl that was by a bowl he assumed held rice.

He took in her appearance. Long raven hair, sapphire eyes, moon kissed skin, a sapphire crescent moon on her forehead and black slashes on her wrists, clavicles and ankles. Light pink lips pouted and he felt like kissing those lips.

"Don't tell me you don't recognize me, Kakashi. After all, it has only been four years."

"Kagome?" He approached and looked at her closer. She wasn't that awkward child anymore. "Choji wasn't lying then."

"I would hope not. He and Shikamaru saw me enter the village this morning."

"And is it safe for me to assume you brought Haku with you?"

"Yes. I went to visit Inari the last month of my training. We had run into Zabuza and Haku while there. The village is so alive now and they kept their promise. Then when we left, Haku came with us. He said something about Zabuza wanting to settle down and that Zabuza wanted Haku to come with me to start over in Konoha. The Hokage didn't seem to question him." He nodded.

"It's good seeing you again," he commented. It felt great to see her again.

"I'm supposed to meet up with Bankotsu, Kikyo and Haku for training in an hour," she said. "Why don't you grab your team and meet us there? We could do a friendly four on four battle."

"But Kikyo doesn't have chakra," he commented.

"Don't worry about that," Kagome said as she sat down and started to serve them. We should eat before the food gets cold." He nodded and started to eat, savoring the taste of her food on his tongue. "I never knew you were so handsome, Kakashi," Kagome commented.

"I never showed my face," he commented.

"So it is safe to say that I am one of the only people to see your face."

"Yes."

* * *

Bankotsu stood in front of his uncle and aunt, Kikyo at his side. They were trying to go meet up with Kagome and Haku. But they were being delayed.

"Kikyo, I thought I told you not to return," he scolded. "Where is the jewel?"

"Well, you see that is hard to explain."

"I gave you an easy task and you failed at even that. You really are a disgrace. And where is Kagome?" He asked Bankotsu.

"She went to sleep at Kakashi's house." His uncle glared at him.

"She's sixteen Bankotsu. Do you know how inappropriate that is?"

"Have you forgotten about what Naraku did to her?" He said back. He could see Naraku in the shadows. "I would trust her with Kakashi over being here any day. As for Kikyo being a disgrace, she has been doing her job of protecting the jewel the whole time."

"I do not see the jewel in her presence," He scoffed back.

"Do you know why that is?" Bankotsu asked angrily. "Your daughter is the jewel. The jewel entered her body and the soul of the jewel made it no more. Your daughter is Midoriko's reincarnation." He looked at their shocked faces. "Come on, Kikyo. We are going to be late meeting with Kagome." She nodded and they moved around the stunned forms of Kagome's parents.

* * *

Kakashi went to get his team after lunch, his appearance shocking them. "We are going to training field seven."

"I thought we were done for the day," Sakura said.

"I said you could go to lunch. There is a difference." He ran off and they followed after him. The landed to see four people already there. The two women had their backs to them and they could clearly see a male figure, but his face was feminine.

Naruto recognized the figure and ran over. "Haku!" He would have tackled the boy, but he was caught in a head lock.

"So you will say hello to Haku, but not your old team mate. I'm hurt, Naruto." Naruto looked up to see a well endowed chest, that led up to a pale face and sapphire eyes. He looked like he was trying to figure out who she was. "Has my appearance changed that much?" She pouted.

"I told you they wouldn't recognize you anymore, Kagome," Bankotsu said with a chuckle. She released Naruto and dropped him.

"You were right, dear cousin." She sighed. "Oh well."

"What are you doing here, Haku?" Naruto asked as the others moved closer.

"Well, Zabuza asked me to go to Konoha with Kagome and try to find happiness, so that is what I am doing. Zabuza wants to settle down and he didn't feel he could do that with me there. He's so happy now," Haku commented.

Sasuke looked at the figure that had caught Naruto in a head lock. 'This is Kagome? She changed so much.' He looked her over and tried to hold back a blush. She was beautiful and the long skirt showed her shapely legs. Her hair looked so silky and soft. Her boobs could rival Tsunade's and her waist was thin. He tried to keep himself from getting excited.

"Like what you, Uchiha Sasuke?" Kagome said teasingly and Sakura exploded.

"Why would he like you when he has me?"

"I can see what you meant by banshee, Kagome," Kikyo said with a laugh. "How are your ears holding up?"

"I think they are bleeding," she said blandly and Kikyo laughed.

"As blunt as ever. I'm glad that hasn't changed," Kakashi said. He seemed to smile at her.

"You haven't changed at all, Kakashi," Kagome said. "Well I guess you did if the house is just as clean as I have left it."

"Ah." He nodded.

"And he stopped reading that perverted book," Naruto said.

"I'm sure he had his reasons," Kagome stated. She turned back to Kakashi. "Ready, Kakashi? You, Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura, versus, Bankotsu, Haku, myself and Kikyo?"

"Alright, even though Kikyo doesn't have any chakra," he commented.

"She has no chakra? Are you like Lee then?" Naruto asked Kikyo.

"I am not sure who this Lee is, but I was trained as a priestess until I met up with Kagome and Bankotsu. They taught me a lot in the year and a half I have been with them."

Naruto nodded and looked at Bankotsu. "And you are the one that trained Kagome."

"Yes. I am an ANBU and sadly enough, the student has surpassed the teacher."

"If you are ready," Kakashi said as he got ready.

"I am." She pulled the great halberd from her back and Kakashi looked at it. "It's heavier than the one Zabuza has," she commented.

"I highly doubt you can swing that," Sakura said.

"You would be surprised," Bankotsu said.

Author's Note: Here is the newest chapter. Next chapter will be the four on four. You will be surprised. I am off to write another chapter.


	19. Team Seven Versus the Fantastic Four

_Chapter 19: Team Seven Versus the Fantastic Four_

Kagome heard what Sakura said and knew it was time for the fight to start. "Kikyo, you take on the pink haired banshee, Haku, you have Naruto, Bankotsu, you take Sasuke, and I will take on Kakashi." They nodded and got ready.

'I'll show her,' Sakura thought and leapt towards Kagome, only to be intercepted by Kikyo.

"You fight me, little girl," Kikyo said coldly. She blasted Sakura away with a gust of wind.

"I thought you didn't have chakra," Sakura panted as she stood after hitting a tree.

"I don't but I do have spiritual powers." She leapt forward, way faster than Sakura. She easily fought Sakura into unconsciousness.

"The pink haired banshee is down," Kikyo called across the field.

"Thank you, Kikyo," Kagome called back. She nodded and the other three attacked. Kagome dodged Kakashi's chidori and swung her great halberd. He barely dodged and tried to catch her in a genjutsu but she easily overpowered it. She swung again and he dodged under it. He went for a kick but she easily pivoted and spun, swinging the halberd down. He rolled out of the way and sweat dropped at the crater her sword had caused.

Sasuke tried to fight Bankotsu, but Bankotsu blocked every kunai and shuurican he threw with his Banryuu. Sasuke scowled and went for a chidori only to have to jump away when the dragon hammer came down. It was a close one. He activated his sharingan to try and get a feel for where Bankotsu was going, but even if he could see it coming, he couldn't stop it. He flipped through the necessary hand signs for his clan's fire techniques but they were canceled out by bursts of lightning from Bankotsu. He didn't think it was fair that he got stuck fighting the ANBU of the group. He thought he should have been fighting Kagome or Haku and Bankotsu should have been fighting Kakashi. But then he had seen how easily a woman without chakra had taken Sakura down. Maybe none of them stood a chance against this team of four.

Naruto wasn't any better off. Haku had done his ice dome technique and Naruto couldn't get in a hit edge wise. Haku was fast and was using his Senbons. He wasn't aiming to kill, instead he was aiming for pressure points. He already lost the use of his right arm and left leg and he was only getting lucky with his dodging. But before long Haku had struck a pressure point in his neck, knocking him unconscious. He put Naruto next to Sakura.

"Naruto is down," Haku called out as he stood next to Kikyo.

Kakashi silently cursed. So far they were losing to Kagome's team and he wasn't doing any better against Kagome. He ducked and dodged and continued to evade her attacks. The sharingan even had a hard time picking up on her movements. He might as well be fighting blind right now.

Sasuke made a wrong move and was caught in a weaker dragon hammer. He fell down, convulsing. Damn it hurt so much.

"The Uchiha is down," Bankotsu called. He left him where was, knowing it was bad to move someone that had been struck down by his dragon hammer. "Kikyo, can you place a barrier around him so he doesn't get trampled?" She nodded and the barrier came up.

Sakura came back to herself to see Naruto paralyzed next to her and she wanted to scream as she saw the ANBU's attack hit him. "Why would you fight him? You know he isn't and ANBU?"

"Because he stood even less of a chance against Kagome." He looked at Kagome. "Oi, stop holding back and end it already," he yelled at her.

'Holding back?' He asked himself.

"Fine." She increased her speed close to her max speed and before he even knew what happened, he was hit with the flat of her halberd and thrown into a tree and through it. He made to stand but found himself pinned to the ground, Kagome straddling his hips and had her halberd at his throat. "You didn't see that one coming, now did you?"

"I didn't." He tried to ignore the way she was pressed to him.

"Well, my team wins." She got of him and straightened her skirt. She had tucked it at the hip to give her more room to move. She placed her halberd on her back and helped him up. "What's the damage?" Kagome asked Bankotsu.

"Well, I hit the Uchiha with my dragon hammer so he cannot move right now, Sakura is conscious now but doesn't have any real injuries and Naruto was hit in a few pressure points so he cannot move either."

"And I think I broke a few of Kakashi's ribs with that swing," Kagome added as she helped him into the clearing. "I will heal Sasuke first, seeing as his wounds are more fatal."

"We need to get them to a hospital," Sakura said. "You aren't properly trained to heal them." She made to approach Kagome.

"I always wanted to try this," Kagome mumbled and moved through hand signs before delivering an open palm to Sakura's mouth.

Sakura went to complain but couldn't open her mouth.

"Ah, sweet silence," Kagome said and Kikyo laughed. "I knew that would come in handy." She moved to Sasuke and Kikyo dropped the barrier. Kagome did the necessary hand signs and place her hand over Sasuke's chest. She could feel the damage fixing and melding muscles and the burns reversing. She left the scars as a reminder. "There you go. All better." She stood and approached Kakashi. He swallowed hard as he watched her hips sway.

"Now relax, this will only take a few minutes." She had done her hand signs and placed them over him and he hissed in pain as his bones shifted back into place then came together. She moved away and looked at him. "Oh, by the way, you also had a hair line fracture in your arm. I fixed that for you too." She patted his shoulder and made quick work of Naruto. She didn't bother to treat Sakura who wanted to complain. "Your wounds are minor and you had put up such a poor fight. Maybe when you actually train I'll consider healing you." She looked up to they had a group watching them. "Looks like we had an audience." She shrugged. She was used to people watching her by now.

* * *

They followed after Bankotsu and Kikyo to come to a clearing where they saw Kagome. She looked beautiful. They wanted to see what was going on and was surprised when the pink haired girl made to attack Kagome. Kikyo moved faster than they knew she was capable of and had pushed the girl back with a gust of wind and quickly took out the pink haired banshee as Kikyo had called her. They watched as the unknown boy took out the Uzamaki and watched as Sasuke was struck with the dragon hammer from Bankotsu and then placed in a barrier by Kikyo. Their eyes had glanced every now and then to the fight between Kakashi and their daughter to see that she had not received a single hit and was surprised to learn she was holding back. They watched as she moved quicker than the eye could see and struck Kakashi with a hit that could have cut him in half if she had not used the blunt side of the halberd. When they next saw her it was when she had Kakashi pinned down with the halberd to his throat. They had even watched as Kagome healed everyone.

* * *

Tsunade had heard that there was a fight going on and had gone to where it was only to find her pupil unconscious next to Kikyo, Naruto laying on the floor by Sakura as Haku stood with Kikyo and she watched as the dragon hammer connected with Sasuke. She would have ran to the boy then and there but he was placed in a barrier to prevent further harm and she turned her eyes to watch Kakashi lose to Kagome. She was going to move to heal them but Kagome was already over Sasuke and he was healed in a few moments, scars the only sign he had been injured. She knew Kakashi broke a few bones and she was going to move forward to treat him when Kagome was before him. She knew no one could fix bones so was surprised when Kakashi hissed in pain. She wanted to Stop Kagome but she moved away and he was able to move without any problems. She even healed Naruto but hadn't healed Sakura. Was her pupil really that weak to be beaten by a woman without chakra?

* * *

Itachi's eyes widened when he saw her. She was beautiful and lean and she took down Kakashi like it was nothing before healing his brother. He knew what it felt like to get hit by lightning jutsu, and the dragon hammer usually took lives. It proved that Bankotsu was holding back and knew what he was doing. Kagome seemed to know what she was doing as well if she was able to beat Kakashi and made it so his brother had no burn scars, just the scars from slices from the blade Bankotsu had. She was even able to mend bone. No medic nin was able to mend bone. But she moved faster even than he could. She was amazing.

* * *

Sakura clawed at her mouth trying to undo the jutsu. She was upset that Kagome was able to heal Sasuke when she could she glared at Kagome and Kikyo. They made her look like she was nothing. She was supposed to gain Sasuke's attention, not Kagome. She could see Sasuke following her with his eyes, just like Kakashi was. Was she really that attractive to grab the attention of just about every male in the clearing? She could even see Itachi checking her out. She was so upset.

* * *

"Kagome?" Her mother said before running and hugging her daughter. "I'm so glad you are alright."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She whispered to her mother.

"What are you…"

"I know mother." She sighed. She was upset that her mother would hide something like that from her. "He helped me a lot while I was training. He helped me avoid being taken captive and used as a breeder by Orochimaru. He taught me so much," she admitted.

"Who else knows?" She looked around.

"No one. Bankotsu and Kikyo were suspicious but they dropped it and we've worked so well together. We trained Kikyo, mom; me and Midoriko."

"Bankotsu said you are Midoriko's reincarnate."

"That is what she told me."

"He told me you were the jewel."

"I am the jewel," she admitted. "I don't want to stay at the compound, not as long as Naraku is alive."

"Bankotsu doesn't want you there either, but it would be inappropriate if you lived with Kakashi."

"I know, but it was the only place I felt was safe for me when I returned."

"I understand. He was your sensei, he saved you from Naraku." She was trying not to cry.

"I'm stronger now, mother, stronger than I was back then. There are things I want to do with my life."

"I know."

"I'm going to become an ANBU mother. I already told the Hokage I would go through with the training when I returned from training."

"Your father won't approve."

"I'm a grown woman mother, I can do what I want. I gained that right the day I became a ninja."

"I know, but you have a responsibility to the clan as your father's first born."

"And I doubt the elders will let me take that spot, not since Souta was born." She looked at the four year old boy that stood next to her father. "You know how the elders are."

"I know." She hugged her daughter as she cried. "I just wanted to protect you from anything bad that could happen to you."

"I know, mother." She hugged her mother. It wasn't her fault that she was raped by her uncle.

Author's Note: Here is the next chapter and the bonding of Kagome and her mother. I wasn't going to get her father involved. That will be saved for another time. I am off to write the next chapter!


	20. Heir or No Heir

_Chapter 20: Heir or No Heir_

He looked at his daughter. Yes, she was beautiful, and yes, she had managed to defeat Kakashi, but he had not seen what else she was capable of, instead she just used the halberd. That was nothing special in his eyes. Bankotsu could do the same thing and probably taught her how to do it too. But he thought she wasted chakra when it came to healing Sasuke, Kakashi, and Naruto. That was the hospital's job. She really was a disgrace to the clan.

"Hey Kagome, you broke a few trees using Kakashi," Bankotsu said.

"Ah yes. That is unfortunate for the trees," she replied. She did a few quick hand signs and the trees grew, replacing the damaged ones. "Hey Bankotsu, up for a quick spar? No halberds and I will not use my incredible speed."

"Alright, but how much of your speed are you going to use?"

"About half. That puts me dead even with your speed." She smirked. "Ready?" He nodded and they watched as she pulled out two kunai and laced one with lightning and the other with fire. Bankotsu got into his fighting stance. He attacked first and she ducked and dodged, swinging the kunai at him and he dodged and ducked and tried to attack as well. It went this way for a while before Kagome ran and started to do a series of hand signs before calling her attack. "Dansu no kaji ryu." Two dragons of fire leapt up and spun around each other before charging at him. He dodged and the dragons turned around, heading for Bankotsu again.

He went through hand signs and summoned forth a dragon of water and it clashed with the fire dragon, canceling it out. He breathed a sigh of relief and went back to fighting with Kagome. He had to think fast and act faster if he was going to beat Kagome. She was sly and fast thinking. He had to be the same.

He leapt forward and she bent over backwards and threw him with her legs. Both turned after landing and attacked. Her kunai dug into Bankotsu's shoulder and he cried in pain as the fire brunt his flesh. He leapt back and pulled the kunai from his shoulder before throwing it at her. She dodged and leapt forward. She ducked under his strike and swiped at him before he dodged. He sent forth an electric punch, which she took. She hissed slightly. She grabbed his fist and smirked at him. He gulped at the look in her eyes.

"How about something knew." And before he could pull his arms away she went through hand signs with her free hand and the hand that gripped his arm sent a surge of electricity went through his arm and into his body.

"That hurt." He collapsed.

"I think I over did it again." She released him and canceled the jutsu before healing him. He was still unconscious though. "Well, all he needs to do now is rest." She looked up to see her father. She forgot that they still had an audience from the four on four battle.

"Come, Kagome, we need to talk," her father called. She approached him and looked back, silently telling Kikyo to help her. Kikyo sighed and knew she could not help her get out of this. Kagome turned back around and followed after her father. He looked upset with her. But what did she do wrong this time? I mean, she was able to beat Bankotsu. She would have to find out by listening to him.

He brought her back to the compound and into his study. He sat in his chair and had her sit across from him. She looked at her lap, wondering what she could have possibly done to displease him.

"I have to admit," he started slowly, "You are strong, stronger than I had anticipated you being. But the elders,"

"Don't feel a female should lead the clan," she finished.

"Yes," he answered.

"I had a feeling that the day Souta was born they would give the position to him."

"Kagome, Souta doesn't have chakra. They don't want him leading the clan because of this. I am getting old, I admit. I have to hand the title over to someone. Right now they have given me two options. One, to give the title to Naraku, or two, give the title to you. The catch with you taking the title is that you have a year to find a man to marry that the elders approve of. Offers for your hand will start to come in when the other clans see you and knowing the elders, they will give your hand to the strongest clan, or the clan that has the most influence. It doesn't look good for you." He watched as his daughter looked down at her hands. "I did not want your marriage to be like mine and your mother's," he admitted. "I was forced to marry. She was the only woman I could stand but I hadn't loved her then. I wanted you and Souta to marry for love, not because you were being forced to, but I fear if Naraku takes over the clan…"

"That he would rape me again." He nodded, tears coming to his eyes. She stood and she hugged her father.

"I was so hard on you because I wanted the elders to see that you were strong and I was happy when Souta was born because I knew then that you would have been free to do what you wanted, to marry for love. But when they said he had no chakra, I hid it from you until after you left. You do not know how much of a disgrace I looked then." He looked up at his daughter. "I am sorry for every wrong I have done towards you. I thought that if I was harsh with you then you would grow cold and strong and would do as told when told."

"I know you only wanted what was best for me, father. I never wanted to lead the clan and I know if Naraku takes over and I refuse him, then I will be banished from the clan. I would much rather refuse him then let him do what he wanted to me." Yes, she feared not being on control of her own life. It scared her so much that she started to cry. "I will try to find a strong man to marry, father." He nodded and wiped away her tears.

"If the worst does happen, take Bankotsu and Kikyo with you. I know they will protect you." She nodded. "There are a few men I want you to consider, Kagome."

"Who?"

"Well I would have said Bankotsu, but he is a direct cousin so he is out, and you had beaten him like nothing." She laughed at that. "There is Taisho Sesshomaru. He is strong and powerful and attractive. The next would be Uchiha Itachi. He is a prodigy and an ANBU captain with looks similar to our own. He will be able to protect you from Naraku. Hatake Kakashi. He was an ANBU captain in the past and is clever. The next is Hyuga Neji. He is a bit of a destiny fanatic, but he is strong and fast, and his clan in an honorable one. If you were to marry one of them, I'd be fine with it, and I know you could grow to love one of them."

"I'll consider them, father." She smiled at him. "You have nothing to worry about." She pulled away from him. "I told the Hokage I wanted to become an ANBU."

"What did your mother say?"

"She said you wouldn't approve."

"If it will bring you closer to any of the men I mentioned, then go ahead and do it. I just want you to find a strong man to protect you from Naraku."

"Alright father. I start the ANBU school tomorrow. After that they will test me. I don't know what will happen after that." He nodded.

"When you get the time, and when Souta gets older, can you train him? I know you are good at hand to hand and that is the least I want him to learn."

"I will, and I am sure Bankotsu will help. Kikyo might be able to help him develop spirit energy." Her father nodded.

"Where are you staying tonight?"

"Probably at Kakashi's house. I would still be vulnerable at a hotel if Naraku chose to attack while I was asleep." He nodded.

"Don't do anything with him, Kagome. Not yet."

"I won't." She left through the door to his study and went back to the field to see Bankotsu still laying in the middle of the field where she had left him. She did a few hand signs and poked him. He jumped up.

"I'm awake, I'm awake." He looked around when everyone laughed. "Damn it, Kagome, you have to stop doing that," he grumbled.

"Would you prefer I left you lying here in the middle of the field or wake you up so you could sleep in a bed?" She looked at him and he sighed.

"Fine."

"What did your father want?" Kikyo asked. Kagome looked down trodden.

"Kagome?" Bankotsu looked at her.

"He was glad that I was stronger but some things came up. Souta doesn't have any chakra so the elders do not want him to take over the clan. They gave my father two options, turn the clan head title over to Naraku or to me. The catch with me is, I have to find and marry a man the elders approve of in a year."

"Kagome," Bankotsu said. "I'm sorry."

"If Naraku takes over the clan," She started to cry again and the two hugged her. "He'll rape me again."

"I don't want that to happen again, Kagome. You don't deserve that." Bankotsu tried to comfort her.

"Did he give you a few suggestions?" Kikyo asked.

"He would have suggested Bankotsu if we weren't so closely related and if I hadn't of beaten him so badly." Kikyo laughed. "But he suggested Taisho Sesshomaru, the ANBU that was monitoring my training. Uchiha Itachi, an ANBU captain, Hyuga Neji, a prodigy from the Hyuga clan. And Hatake Kakashi. He does not expect me to stay in the compound tonight." They nodded.

* * *

Itachi looked at her. Yes, she was younger than him, but she was attractive and strong and she seemed caring enough. Yes, he could imagine himself with her. His father and mother wanted her in the clan when she was younger. They would be surprised when they saw her. He was flattered that her father thought him worthy and strong enough for her. She was an heir and he was an heir. It was a match, though he knew that the others were going to be a challenge. Luckily enough Neji was away on a mission for a few more days. But Sesshomaru was there and watched her grow. Sesshomaru knew more about her than he did. He would just have to get her to notice him.

* * *

Kakashi blushed. Yes, he would admit that a part of him desired her and who was he to deny himself? It was even better that her father would approve of him being with her, despite the age difference. But if she wasn't staying in the Higurashi compound, where was she staying?

* * *

Sasuke scowled. What about him? Was he truly not strong enough for her? She did beat Kakashi and he is yet to beat Kakashi, and she seemed closer to Kakashi and that Bankotsu character, though they were cousins. The Uchiha were not above incest and often tried to keep the blood pure by marring other Uchiha members. It didn't matter how closely or distantly they were related, which is why he would never date Ino or Sakura. Both of them did not have a dark hair color or dark eyes. Hinata was always a definite no because of the rivalry between the Hyuga and Uchiha clans. He would get Kagome if it was the last thing he did.

* * *

"Well, I have school in the morning, so I am off to get some sleep," Kagome said. She walked away from the two. "We'll practice after I get done with school," she said before she vanished from sight. She appeared at Kakashi's house and entered. She started to cook dinner and hummed. She knew Kakashi was going to come home and he probably heard what they were talking about. She didn't want anyone to know she had been raped, but it was bound to be discovered anyways.

"Kagome?" Kakashi called as he came in.

"Where else would I be?" She called as she placed food on the table.

"I should have came in here first." He walked in and looked her over. She was bent over, placing food on the table. He swallowed and averted his gaze.

"Dinner is ready." She turned and looked at him before she approached him. "Do I excite you, Kakashi?" She asked as she looked up at him. "You don't have to lie, and even if you did I would know."

There was something he had wanted to do since he had seen her after her return. He reached up and pulled down the mask over the bottom portion of his face. He reached down and cupped her cheek. He leaned down and soon kissed her. He pulled back after a little while. "Yes, you excite me, more than any woman has before." He dropped his hand back to his side.

"I know you aren't lying," she said. "I could tell you were excited before I even turned around." She stepped back. "Truthfully, that was my first kiss." She saw his smirk. "We should eat, before the food gets cold." She looked down.

"Very well." He looked at her. He wanted to kiss her again, but maybe later.

Author's Note: Here is the next chapter and you find out why her father was how he was. Don't hate me too much for that. And there was a little Kakashi fluff for you. And you see a little of Itachi's thought but not much from Naraku. Read, review and ENJOY! This was the fourth chapter I wrote for this in one day. I am going to call it a night because I have work and packing to do. There might be a bit of a delay with my writing, as I fly out Monday to Hawaii. I will try to post a good amount when I get to Hawaii, though it might be delayed as well since I will have to find a house to live at and a car. Good night.


	21. Day One of ANBU School

_Chapter 21: Day One of ANBU School_

He stared up at the ceiling after he had eaten and turned in. Yes, he had kissed Higurashi Kagome, a past student and now his house mate. She was more attractive than any woman he had dated or slept with, and she was different from all the kunoichi now in days. She had focused solely on training for four years and now she was being forced to marry in a year. He wanted her to be happy with the man she married but her clan wanted her to marry a man that was strong and influential, while her father wanted her to marry a man that could protect her from Naraku. He had to agree, she needed to be protected from the man.

* * *

She woke early and started breakfast. She placed it on the table as Kakashi walked in. He looked at her, still half asleep. He sat down as she placed a plate in front of him. She poured the juice in his cup and sat down, starting to eat. She had to get to school soon. She would then go train with Bankotsu, Kikyo and Haku. They wanted to practice when she got out of school. She had already made her lunch and a box for Kakashi.

"I have to go now," she called as she started to pull her sandals on, her lunch next to her. "Your lunch is on the counter. I'll see you later, Kakashi." She was out the door. She ran down the road and to where the Hokage said the school was at. She entered the room to see mostly men. There were very few women, and most of the women were scarred in some way. She was the only one that had close to no scars. The only one she had was on her hip where she had dug out and replaced the jewel. It was a reminder to her.

"She's hot," a voice whispered to another.

"I know that symbol," the other whispered. "She's from the Higurashi clan. No women from the Higurashi clan ever come to this school."

"Settle down," a voice barked. It was a man with amber eyes and long silver hair. He looked a lot like Taisho Sesshomaru. "Welcome to your first day of ANBU school for some of you, and welcome back to others. Right now we are going to have a test to see where you are at. There are two parts to the test, a written portion and the performance test. Both portions of the test will have a time limit and is not part of your grade but it will help me understand where you are." He looked around the room and spotted the only attractive girl in the room. She was probably trying to get an ANBU boyfriend, either with his son or one of the other clan prodigies. He would just how well she did.

* * *

She looked down at the test in front of her. She had an hour to do all twenty of the questions in the packet. She looked around and noticed all the funny faces they were making. She looked back down and started to take the test. She may have been gone but she did read books on advanced jutsu and the ninja way. One of the books was even for ANBU. She had gotten it from Bankotsu while they were training and she had gone through and memorized the whole book from begging to end in a few months time. She even read it a few times.

She finished it in twenty minutes as everyone else still scratched their heads. She stood and approached the instructor's desk, hips swaying. The males watched as she walked by, drool and blushes coming to their faces. She placed the test in front of him and turned, raven hair trailing behind her as she walked back to her seat, boobs bouncing and the men had goofy smiles on their faces. She took her seat and could smell the men's excitement and she could see her instructor's confusion. She crossed her arms and legs and he looked down.

* * *

He was surprised when there was a packet placed in front of him. He hadn't heard her coming. He watched as she walked back to her seat and noticed all the men staring at her as she walked by, blushes and goofy smiles on their faces. He watched her cross her arms and legs then looked back down. He would grade her test and see how much she really knew.

He looked at the name on the test to see Higurashi Kagome. He was surprised. Sesshomaru had told him a few times about the girl. She did not look much like a girl, but he had told him she was twelve when she had left, and that was four years ago. She had matured since then. But he needed to grade her test to see how well she did.

He went over it to see that every answer was right. She had to have cheated to have gotten a perfect score. He would talk to her and look at her school file from when she had gone to the academy. That would be after the little performance test he had set up for all of them. He would see how she did, then see what else she could do. Of course, if she did well on that as well, he would give her another task and see if she could complete it, and if she did well on that, he'd give her another task and depending on how she did on that task, he would talk with the Hokage.

* * *

The time for the written test came and they turned in their tests.

"Damn, that was hard," some complained.

"Take an hour break for lunch, then when you come back we will hand back the tests, from best test score to the worst. Then I will explain the performance test. Those that do extremely bad on the test will have to redeem themselves on the performance test. If you do horrible there then I will have to drop you from the school and you will go back to whatever rank of ninja you were. Go." They all got up grumbling.

He watched Kagome stand with her lunch and leave the room. He had seen how the men stared at her and followed her with their eyes. He didn't need men that would be easily distracted by a pretty face, though he had to admit that if he were younger, he would pursue her. He would have to get one of his sons to, if she proved to be strong. He just went back to grading the tests. He would place them in piles in accordance to percentage then organize it from there. So far Kagome had the highest score.

* * *

She sat under the tree eating her lunch. She could feel the eyes of the men on her. She didn't much care for them, keeping to her father's words. Taisho Sesshomaru, Uchiha Itachi, Hyuga Neji, and Hatake Kakashi were the ones she were to get to know. She knew someone other than the men in her class was watching her. She focused on the feel of them to see that there was a weird energy in their eyes. She narrowed it down either and Uchiha and a Hyuga. But the absence of the energy in the forehead eliminated the Hyuga. Even the main branch had the energy concentrated in the forehead, but it was for a different reason.

She took a bite and finally narrowed it down to which Uchiha was watching her.

"You know, it is very rude to stare, Itachi," she called as she continued to eat.

"Hn." He dropped down from the tree and looked down at her. "How could you tell I was there?"

"I'm not stupid. There were plenty of ways for me to tell you were there." He looked upset. "But I doubt any of them knew you were there," she said in an attempt to make him feel better. "I sensed the absence of chakra where chakra should be, and I could pick up the energy from your eyes."

"Hn, clever."

"I also picked up your scent. It is different from other people's. But everyone has a difference in scent." He nodded. He was surprised by her. "If you will excuse me, I have to get back to class."

"I want a spar with you when you are done with school for the day," he called.

"Then meet me at training field seven."

He watched her hips sway and her hair get caught by the breeze. She really was something else.

* * *

"Some of your test scores are extremely low," he said to the class. "About half of you will have to do extremely well on the performance portion. I will hand out the tests now. We had only one person get a perfect score. When I call out your name, come forward and get your test. Higurashi Kagome." He watched as she stood. "The only perfect score," he said. She took her test and walked back to her seat.

"She probably slept with him," they murmured. One voice was louder than the others though. She wished she could fight the Hyuga that accused her of such a thing.

* * *

The names were all called and the male that accused her of sleeping with the teacher had a low score, and she was facing the Hyuga.

"You really shouldn't say such slanderous things about people, especially someone you don't know." She looked to the instructor, whom she learned was the Inu no Taisho, Sesshomaru's father. "What are the rules?" She asked.

"Rules?" He looked at her. "What rules? The only rule is not to kill your opponent. You have five minutes." He saw the dangerous smirk come across her face.

"You really aren't giving him a fighting chance." She pulled the great halberd from her back. "You, Hyuga, do not know what you just got yourself into."

"Begin," Taisho called and he watched as Higurashi Kagome vanished from sight. The Hyuga activated his Byakugon but he could not find her. Taisho watched as she reappeared behind the Hyuga.

"You are far too slow to keep up with me," she said lowly before flashing through hand signs. She gripped his shoulder and pulses of electricity went through his body. He dropped to the floor, unconscious. "I didn't kill him," she commented, placing her halberd back on her back.

Taisho eyes widened. Lightning was by far one of the hardest elements to use and she had used it to knock out the Hyuga and she moved faster than he had ever seen anyone move, even his eldest son, who was said to be the fastest ANBU in Konoha. He noted it down. He would have two more tests for her, one of which would involve his eldest son.

The performance portion was done and he had dropped half of the class, including the Hyuga that was easily defeated by Higurashi Kagome.

"You are done for the day. Higurashi, I wish to speak to you." She nodded and watched as everyone left. "I originally thought you cheated on the written portion of the test. Care to explain how you got a perfect score?"

"My cousin gave me his old book. I read it several times through out the past four years. I memorized all of it." He nodded.

"I have another task for you. You are to get a strand of hair from the head of my eldest son. You will have to do this without him knowing. You have until tomorrow at the beginning of class to accomplish this."

"Alright, Taisho-sensei." She bowed and left, her empty lunch box in hand. She had no restrictions on how to go about this. She would use something Toga taught her. Now she only had to find Sesshomaru and put her plan into action.

* * *

She went home to drop off her lunch box. She placed it in the sink and looked out the window to see Kakashi tending to what looked was a yard of nothing but flowers. He didn't have his shirt on and she could see the droplets of sweat running down his back. He turned and looked at her and she traced a droplet of sweat down his chest and down over chiseled abs to be absorbed by his pants. She tore her eyes from his form and turned around. She had to go meet with Bankotsu, Kikyo, and Haku and to meet with Itachi for a spar. She would then enact her plan to gain a strand of Taisho Sesshomaru's hair.

She came to the training field to see Haku, Kikyo and Bankotsu going through some of their old drills. Itachi was approaching them now. She turned and looked at him.

"Are you ready for our spar?" He asked.

"Any restrictions?"

"Should there be?" He smirked. He already knew what he was going to do.

Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. I need to do a little packing then off to another chapter. Read, review, and ENJOY!


	22. Seduction Times Three

_Chapter 22: Seduction Times Three_

"If that is how you want it?" She drew her halberd. "On Bankotsu's signal."

"If you insist." He got ready.

"Go." They charged forward. He ducked under her swing and went for a punch. She pivoted and threw his attack off, she went for another swing and he moved away. He managed to grab a portion of her halberd. He rotated his wrist, and the halberd was free of her grasp. She leapt back and away. He rammed the halberd into the ground and charged her, his sharingan activated. He went through the hand signs and caught her in a genjutsu. He smirked. This was too easy.

~Genjutsu~

She looked around her to see nothing but the dark. She looked down to see red sheets. "Where's my clothes?" She looked around trying to find her clothes.

"Looking for these?" A voice said with a smirk. Itachi came into the light holding up a set of clothes. "You won't be needing them here." He dropped the clothes and they seemed to vanish into thin air. He came closer and she could see his bare torso. She moved back and soon was pressed against the head board. He moved closer and she looked into his eyes. He moved forward and kissed her. Her eyes widened in shock and his hand cupped a breast. He tweaked a nipple and she tried to pull back, head hitting the head board.

"Relax, Kagome," his voice purred as his sinful mouth placed open mouthed kiss down her neck and to a breast. His tongue licked around the nipple before he took her nipple into his mouth. Nibbled it and his free hand slid down her side and traced her toned stomach down to her thighs. He teased her and she was breathing hard. This man was sinful.

~Real World~

Itachi smirked when Kagome collapsed. "I win," he declared.

Bankotsu approached Kagome and did hand signs. He poked her and she leapt up, yelping. Her mind fuzzy from the genjutsu.

"Damn it, Bankotsu. Don't ever use my own move against me." She whirled around to face Itachi. "That was low."

"I was only giving you a taste of what I could do." He pulled the halberd from the ground and approached her. He held it forward and she grasped the hilt but he hadn't let go. She knew he was up to something. "I do not fight for nothing. Dinner tomorrow night." He released the halberd and turned. "Where something nice." And he was gone.

"You lost to the Uchiha," Bankotsu stated.

"He sunk low. That was the only reason he won," she bit back.

"I believe he thinks you are going on a date with him tomorrow," Bankotsu said.

"I never said I was going to go," she remarked back. "If you will excuse me, I have something I need to do." She left.

"Seems she is a little sore about losing," Bankotsu said.

"I think it is the way that she lost that is bugging her," Kikyo put in. "He did use a genjutsu, but what the genjutsu was, we do not know. It was enough to get under her skin and by the way he was acting, he meant to get under her skin."

"We'll talk to her about it later. Let's get back to the compound." She nodded. "See you tomorrow, Haku."

"Later, Bankotsu, Kikyo." He headed to the apartment he had rented out.

* * *

Kagome used her excellent stealth and speed to find Sesshomaru's house. Using her nose she found his room. She knew he wasn't home yet, so made her way into his room. This would be her master plan, and a way to get to know Sesshomaru. She would have to wait a little bit.

* * *

He sighed after another ridiculous day of training. His squad was a bunch of slackers and whiners and it gave him a headache. His whole body was tense. He just wanted to get home, take a shower and relax. He dragged his body up the stairs and down the hall to his bedroom. He opened the door and closed it behind him. He sighed. He whirled around and flung a kunai only for it to be set off course.

"You really are jumpy tonight, Sesshomaru," a voice said into his ear.

"It's dangerous to sneak up on an ANBU," he commented back coldly.

"Relax, Sesshomaru, I'm not here to hurt you." He watched as Kagome walked around him. "You're all tense." She pouted up at him and he tried not to make it known that he was growing excited. "Do I excite you, Sesshomaru? You don't have to lie to me." She placed her hands on his shoulders and started to knead them. "You really are tense." She leaned up. "I could relieve that tension," she whispered in his ear. She moved back and nipped his bottom lip before moving around so that she stood behind him. She pushed him towards his bed and into a laying position. "Relax." She rubbed his neck in small circles and worked into his shoulders. She was straddling his lower back and he moaned at how her hands massaged the knots from his shoulders and when they were gone there her hands moved lower as she slid down to straddle his thighs as she worked the knots from his lower back.

Without warning , he rolled over. He captured her underneath him and leaned down, kissing her. She closed her eyes and remembered her objective. She kissed him back and moved her hands up. She tugged lightly on his hair eliciting a small hiss of pleasured pain from him. He groaned. He pulled back. He knew he couldn't do anything more with her, even if he wanted to. He rolled off of her.

"You should go before I cannot control myself anymore."

She stood from the bed, fixing her appearance and stealthily hiding the hair away. "You never did answer my question."

"I would think that my actions would be answer enough." He looked at her as she opened the door.

"It was, I just wanted to hear you say it." Her hips swayed seductively and he was tempted to drag her back into the room and finish what he wanted. "I'll see you later, Sesshomaru," she purred before she closed the door and left.

"Damn that woman," he groaned. Yes, the tension was gone but he had a whole new problem to get over. He was turned on but he refused to seek out some trashy female. He would have preferred to have dragged her back into the room and taken out his new frustration out on her. She caused his new frustration.

* * *

Kakashi came in to the house. He was surprised that there was no smell of cooking. He sighed. He wondered if she was staying here tonight. He grumbled and walked into the kitchen. He pulled out the pots and started to cook. He was hungry and he was not going to wait to see if Kagome was going to come home.

"Sorry I'm late, Kakashi." Kagome came into the house. "I had something I needed to do. I'll start dinner now."

"Why don't you go shower? I've already started dinner."

"Alright." She walked out of the kitchen. She walked up to the room she occupied and pulled the strand of Sesshomaru's hair from her pocket. She pulled out a small velvet bag and tucked the strand of hair into it before placing it in her underwear drawer. She pulled out a set of pants and a bra. She had to replace all of them when she got back from training. She grabbed a set of shorts and a tank top before grabbing her towel. She entered the bathroom and closed and locked the door. She started the water and let it heat up before stripping out of her clothes. She sighed as the water hit her body. She did miss bathing in a spring, but she felt more secure showering indoors.

She washed up and got out. She dried off before pulling on her clothes. She walked out of the bathroom drying her hair. She placed her clothes in her hamper and hung up her towel to dry. She headed down stairs and looked to see Kakashi placing food on the table. She walked in and sniffed the air. "It smells good," she commented.

"I hope it tastes as good as it smells," he replied, turning to look at her. She looked provocative to him, dressed as she was.

"You're excited again," she commented as she took a seat. "Come on, let's eat. I'm starving." He chuckled and sat down as she started to serve herself some of his cooking. He was hoping it didn't taste bad. He watched as she took a bite. "I didn't know you could cook, Kakashi."

"I started to cook when you left," he admitted.

"And I didn't know you were capable of having the patients to garden."

"I had to have something to keep me occupied." She laughed at his embarrassment.

"I guess you did need something to keep you occupied. Training Sasuke wasn't enough?" She looked at him.

"He has the potential but his focus is on other things," he commented.

"Then he didn't learn everything you wanted him to learn." He nodded. "I learned more than Bankotsu planned."

"That is saying something then," Kakashi said.

"I grew restless after awhile and Bankotsu didn't want to head back. We had traveled around and Bankotsu, Kikyo, and myself had learned to fight as a team. And then Haku joined us the last week before we came back to Konoha." Kakashi nodded.

"And now you are being rushed to find a husband."

"You heard that?" He nodded.

"You are growing up faster than you should," he commented. He looked at her. Yes, she looked older than she actually was, and she was a fast thinker. That was what was needed in every ninja.

"Sometimes, you have to grow up fast." She looked away and finished eating. She picked up her plate and the pots and empty serving dishes. She started to run the water and scrubbed at the dishes. She rinsed them as she went and placed them all in the dish drain. Kakashi came up behind her and placed his dish in the sink before wrapping his arms around her.

"Is it so wrong that you excite me?" He asked, his breath ghosting over her ear.

"You are not the only one fighting for my affection, Kakashi," she commented.

"Then I will just have to try harder." He turned her around and trapped her between the sink and his body. He leaned down and kissed her. It was soft, but hesitant. When she did not pull away, he became more confident and added a bit more pressure. He managed to gain entrance and he kissed her with more passion than she had ever known. The running water was forgotten as he placed his hands behind her head and pulled her closer. He could not get carried away, not yet.

He drew back and looked into her sapphire eyes. They held so much confusion. He sighed and stepped back.

"I don't want to force myself on you, Kagome. I want you to take your time."

"Admittedly, I do not have much time." She dropped her head. "I do not know what will happen should I fail at finding a husband by my seventeenth birthday." Tears came to her eyes. "I am scared. For once in my life I am scared."

"I will not let anything happen to you, Kagome." He hugged her crying form to his chest. He had not seen her so vulnerable since that time Naraku had tried to force himself on Kagome. "I promise I will protect you from him."

"Can I sleep with you tonight, Kakashi? I don't want to be alone tonight."

"Alright." He looked down at her as she tried to dry her eyes. He led her up the stairs and to his room. She climbed into his bed as he grabbed his night clothes. He left the room and entered the bathroom to change. He came back and climbed into bed, his clothes dropped on the floor. She curled into him and he wrapped his arms around her. She seemed to smell him.

"You smell nice," she murmured.

"Sleep, Kagome." She nodded, nuzzling his chest.

"Good night."

"Night." He smiled down at her and kissed her forehead. He rested his head back down and tightened his grip. She sighed and he found himself going to sleep.

* * *

He came into the classroom to see Kagome sitting there, arms crossed and a smirk on her face. He raised a brow and she approached him. He wondered why she was smirking.

Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. I am off to take a two hour nap then gather some last minute things and head off to work to check out, send out a few things, then catch my flight. I hope you enjoyed the fluffs of this chapter. Read and review. I'll try not to delay the chapters too much but I need to set up everything when I get to Hawaii.


	23. Completed Tests

_Chapter 23: Completed Tests_

She approached his desk and placed upon it a single pouch. He picked up the pouch and opened it. He looked inside to see nothing, but stuck his finger in and was rewarded by the feel of something thin. He pulled it out to see a fine silver hair, almost as long as his own hair.

"Sesshomaru's hair?" He asked.

"Yes. Extracted from his head."

"How did you go about getting it?" He looked surprised. His son had to know that she had tugged a hair from his head.

"Seduction," was her simple action.

"Seduction?" He was confused. No ninja ever used seduction to get what they needed.

"Yes. I found his room, waited for him to return. When he did I gave him a massage and he kissed me. I took opportunity of his distraction to get it."

"Hn. I would not have thought of you doing that." He was surprised with her.

"A ninja must think of every way to complete the mission, with the least amount of risks." He nodded as he performed a jutsu on the hair to see it stayed the same. "Checking to see if it is real?"

"Yes. One must always make sure that what they are seeing is not false." She nodded. "You were telling the truth with this one. I have one more task for you."

"Another task?" She was confused. "Was my test scores and the hair not enough?"

"Mm. I have this last task for you."

"Alright." She sighed.

"This will be harder than any other task I have assigned you. I want you to get an item from everyone in the class, by the end of class. They cannot know you took it."

"Alright." She smirked. "I need a good challenge." She took her seat five minutes before the first person came in. She easily snuck up on him and when he turned around, all he could focus on was her boobs. He didn't even feel her withdraw his note book from his pouch. She stepped back, slipping the note book out of sight and took her seat. He sat down, a large blush on his face. He went to pull out his note book only for it not to be in his pouch. He silently cursed.

'Damn, I forgot my notebook,' he thought to himself. 'I'll worry about it later.'

The others had filed into class slowly. Of course none had noticed an item going missing from their person. Inu no Taisho was a bit wary, not knowing if Kagome would manage to take something from him, or if she would dare. He had said everyone in the class, and technically speaking, he was a part of the class. Maybe she wouldn't take anything from him.

* * *

The end of the class came and he stood, looking at Kagome. She was wearing a large smirk across her face, while her face had been set in a serious line before. He knew she had succeeded. Though he was still unsure if she took anything from him.

"I have an announcement to make," he said and all whispers stopped in the room. "You all suck as ANBU."

"What!" It was a call of outrage. One voice was not heard though.

"I say this because everyone of you is missing an item and you do not even know it," he said. They all checked their person and pulled everything from any hidden pockets they had.

"Then what does that make you, Inu no Taisho-sensei?" Kagome asked as she stood. "You did say everyone in the class." Everyone looked confused and he looked at her as she started to throw a coin purse up and down in her hand. It looked familiar so he reached into his pocket and pulled out a coin purse only for it to poof and turn into a toad. It croaked and hopped off, causing all of the stolen items the students thought they still had to turn into bugs.

"But nothing was taken from me, sensei," the guy that was first stolen from said.

"How wrong you are," Kagome said. "You were first after all. You really should pay more attention to your surroundings over a woman's cleavage." She pulled up the notebook he had thought he left at home.

He blushed and leapt up trying to take his notebook back. He easily dodged under him. "Give that back! It's private." He made another attempt and only ended up beneath her foot.

"Sensei?" She looked to Inu no Taisho as the man struggled to free himself.

"Let him up," he said with a sigh. He was upset with himself for managing to get stolen from, and by a woman of a lower rank than him. "Give them back what you took."

"Very well," she said as she lifted her foot and allowed the man up. He snatched his notebook from her hands as she started to pull various items out of pockets and throwing them in the owner's general direction. They wondered how she could fit all of the stuff on her person.

"I had her steal items from everyone in the class," Inu no Taisho said. "It was a test for her as well as all of you. She passed, however all of you guys failed. You are not paying attention to your surroundings. I should fail all of you, but since it is only day two of training, I will give you all another chance. Be on your guard because you will never know when another test like this will take place." They all replied together, minus Kagome. "Dismissed." They stood and left, mumbling about how a girl younger than them could possibly pull one over on them, and without them even knowing.

"It was easy, you know. They still have a mind set of the lower ninja," Kagome told him. "If they did the type of training I had done, then they would have learned to always be on guard."

"Not everyone can have that type of training," he commented.

"I even knew when Sesshomaru was watching me," she commented. "He never knew that I knew he was there. I am sure he told you a lot about me."

"He has." He looked at her.

"I should get going so you can report to the Hokage." She grabbed her bag. "I also have training to get to." She vanished faster than his eye could see.

"She is different from the rest. She is more open minded and will do anything to succeed at the task handed to her." He sighed. He needed to go talk to the Hokage about that girl.

* * *

He entered the Hokage's office. He was sure she was not expecting him to show up, but he had to report about Kagome. There was nothing he could teach her, and he would tell Tsunade this.

"Inu no Taisho," she greeted.

"Hokage-sama." He bowed.

"What can I do for you?"

"I came to give you a report on my ANBU class." She nodded. "I eliminated half of the class on the first day. They did not have the knowledge or the skill to make it past the first day."

"And the other half?"

"Some had knowledge, some had skill, very few had a balance of the two, but only one was both extremely knowledgeable and skilled."

"And that would be?"

"Higurashi Kagome. I gave her four tests and she passed every single one of the test. She aced the written exam, which was a first, she showed great skill in combat, she thinks of ways to accomplish a task that not even I thought of, she has incredible stealth and means of gathering information undetected, even by me."

"What were these tasks?"

"The first was the written exam to get accepted into the school, the second was the physical test to see where she would rank, the third task was to get a hair off of the head of my son, Sesshomaru, and the last task was a steal an item from everyone in the class including me, without them knowing."

"How did she manage to get the hair without Sesshomaru knowing?"

He blushed at this. "She used seduction and took the hair when he was distracted."

"She slept with him then?"

"No. She did not have sex with him. Seduction does not necessarily mean she would have to sleep with him," he commented.

"Do you know the situation in which she is in, Taisho-san?" The Hokage asked. As Hokage, she was informed of everything that was going on within the clans.

"The situation she is in?" He was confused.

"A long time ago, she was offered the chance to go through the ANBU training without going through the academy because she showed promise. Yes, she was young but the Hokage at that time said she showed promise. Her father refused, thinking she was too weak for something like that, and yet she had the ability to perform high leveled jutsu with such little chakra. She was the heir to the clan, whether she wanted to be or not. She trained harder than anyone her age, and even that was not enough to please her parents.

"And I am not sure when it started, but her uncle, Naraku, started to abuse her, physically and mentally. She was a fragile thing back then with no friends. Her only escape was training. She mastered four elements while being in the academy. But the physical and mental abuse were not enough for Naraku. He raped her. She has not said how many times. When her parents found out, she was placed in Hatake Kakashi's care and Naraku had not been able to touch her then." She looked into his eyes. "She left to train when she was twelve. For four years she was gone training, growing stronger and mastering more techniques, training until it was too dark to see."

"What does that have to do with now?"

"Her father had a son. He would have taken over the clan, had he not been born lacking chakra. He was given two choices. The first was to turn over his title as clan head to his brother, Naraku. If he did that, who knows what that would mean for Kagome. The second option was for him to turn over his title of head to Kagome, that catch was, she would have to marry a man the clan approved of before her seventeenth birthday. If she fails to do so, the clan goes to Naraku and she could be abused again, and she will not be able to do anything about it, and should she fight back, the clan can sentence her to death, or banishment from the clan."

"Hokage-sama," he tried to say.

"As it stands, her father wanted her to join the ANBU in hopes that she would find a man that she could marry and that could protect her from Naraku. Your son, Sesshomaru, is one of the men the clan wants her to marry. The other options set before her are Hyuga Neji, Uchiha Itachi, and Hatake Kakashi."

"I do not understand what this has to do with me."

"She will be tested next week. Should she pass, she will be placed on a team with your son, Uchiha Itachi, Hyuga Neji, and Hatake Kakashi. If she fails she will go through your course." He looked into her serious eyes. "Hope she doesn't fail."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." He bowed and left. He had not known why Kagome was the way she was. He knew now though.

"So we might get a new ANBU next week," someone said.

* * *

"I heard it was a girl," another said. "I doubt she is attractive."

Itachi ignored them. They would be making new squads next week and he hoped he would not be with these men and the female that thought that he would like her because she was an ANBU. She was only an ANBU because she was smart and was advanced in medic jutsu. But he would bet his next paycheck as to who it was they were making an ANBU this early in the school. He smirked. He had a date with her today as well. That was why he called this training to an end early. He wanted to go home and shower and get ready for the date.

* * *

She was sparring with the three, Souta sitting on the side lines watching. It was a four way battle and they were all dodging and swinging and moving quickly. Kagome had to reduce her speed though, to make it fair. He was amazed by his sister. She was so skilled and graceful, and so beautiful. He wished he could do what they could.

"You are late for our date," a voice said, stopping their fight. Itachi was standing there and looking at them.

"I never said I was going," Kagome stated. "Besides, that was a cheap trick you used." She turned away and brushed some sweat from her brow. "You are interrupting my training."

Itachi scowled. Girls wanted to date him, and she should have been one of them.

"Perhaps if you had won fair and square I would go on a date with you, but you cheated."

"Ninja do not cheat, and you know that. They use any means possible to obtain their goal, and that is exactly what I did." He approached her. "You lost. Go get showered and dressed or you will make us late."

"No." And she was gone, faster than he would have expected.

Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. It took me a while because of everything that is going on. I have two more chapters ready to be posted, but right now I have some work I need to do. Read, review and ENJOY!


	24. Demanding

_Chapter 24: Demanding_

Itachi seethed. No one ever said no to him. He glared at the spot she had once stood in.

"Umm, not to bug you or anything, Itachi," Bankotsu said, "But you are going all about it the wrong way with Kagome. I mean you can't just tell her to go on a date with you. Did you even stop to think that she would have been more willing to go on a date with you if you asked instead of demanded?"

"Uchiha's don't ask," he stated coldly.

"Then good luck with Kagome," he said. "After that genjutsu you pulled, she's been upset with you." Bankotsu turned back to Kikyo and Haku. "Want to call it a day? Without Kagome, there is no point in training." They nodded and Haku headed towards his place as the other two went home.

He scowled. He was used to getting everything he wanted. This time would be no different. He would get Higurashi Kagome to go on a date with him if it was the last thing he did.

* * *

Kakashi came in to find a furious Kagome cutting vegetables. He was afraid she was going to cut herself if this kept up, so he called from his place at the entrance to the kitchen.

"Kagome? Is something wrong?" He waited for her to place the knife down, which she never did.

"That arrogant Uchiha!" She seethed. "He demanded that I go on a date with him. I had refused and left before I fried his ass." She continued to chop away furiously.

"Kagome, come here," Kakashi said. He could already see the angry tears coming down her face. She dropped the knife and she walked over to him, placing her face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and tried to calm her anger. "It's okay, Kagome."

"He is so arrogant. Is it so hard to ask for something? I know as an Uchiha he has always gotten what he wanted without having to ask."

"Do not worry about him, Kagome," he commented.

"Kakashi." She leaned up and placed a shy kiss on his lips. His arms tightened around her and he kissed her back. She pulled back and smiled. "I feel better. Go shower while I cook. You're all sweaty." She stepped back and pushed him towards the stairs. He chuckled and walked up the stairs as she went back to cutting the vegetables. She heard the door close and she started to hum as she threw them into a pot with water and beef. She was going to start on the rice while the beef stew cooked.

* * *

Itachi scowled. He had gone to the Higurashi compound looking for Kagome, only for them to say she was not there and that they didn't know where she was. Apparently she did not stay in the Higurashi compound and hadn't since academy days. He stormed away and tried to find out where she could possibly be. He would have to plan for the next time he saw her.

* * *

He sat down and served himself. He really did love Kagome's cooking. And this time around she had instigated a kiss with him. He grinned and ate slowly as Kagome at her own food. Yes, he still wore his mask, but it was mainly when he was out in public. He didn't when in his own home. Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura didn't know where he lived and all the windows were usually closed. They were opened when the both of them were home, but that was when it was sunny outside.

"This is good, Kagome," he said as he ate more. He was working on thirds now.

"Eat up, Kakashi." She picked up her empty bowl and placed it in the sink. She put more rice in the serving dish and placed it back on the table. "I'm going to go shower then do the dishes." She stood and walked past him. She was walking up the stairs and he leaned over, watching her as she went. And then he fell backwards. His spoon clattered against the floor and he gave an "oomph" of pain.

"You're excited again, Kakashi," she called before closing the bathroom door.

* * *

"So I heard you were seduced by Kagome," Inu no Taisho said as he saw Sesshomaru come in the door.

"How would you know?" He looked at his father. Inuyasha seemed to be listening in.

"She told me," he stated simply.

"Why would she tell you?" He glared at his father.

"I gave her a test. That test was to get a hair from your head using any means possible. I had asked her and she told me she used seduction. Of course she didn't go into detail about it." He pulled out the pouch and pulled out the long silver hair. Sesshomaru happened to have the lightest hair of him and Inu no Taisho. Inuyasha happened to have his mother's hair and his father's eyes.

"She came to me because of a stupid test?" Sesshomaru almost growled out.

"That is only half of the reason she went to see you, Sesshomaru," he said.

"Half the reason?" He but back at his father.

"She is looking for a husband and you happen to be one of the prospective men she marries." At this, Inuyasha spat out his water.

"What? Why would anyone want to marry him? He's so emotionally constipated," Inuyasha remarked.

"Inuyasha, be nice," his mother scolded. "Sesshomaru isn't emotionally constipated. He shows no emotion, which is what all good ninja are capable of learning." She kissed her husband. She looked to Sesshomaru. "Someone once said you could tell a lot about a person through a kiss. She was trying to get to know you."

"Hn." He knew Kagome wasn't a fan girl. Yes, there were fan girls. Uchiha Itachi, Hyuga Neji, Uchiha Sasuke, Higurashi Bankotsu and himself were a few that had fan clubs. Of course none of them wanted to date a fan girl.

"New squads will be assigned next week Sesshomaru. Chances are you will have several rivalries going on," Inu no Taisho warned.

"I'm going to go shower." He turned and left.

* * *

He was walking through Konoha with Kagome. She wanted to grow some herbs in the back yard that were used for medicine so he had agreed. It would give him a reason to spend more time with her. He smirked under his mask. His eye twinkling with some unknown emotion. He was surprised when a silver haired man approached them. He could identify the man as one Taisho Sesshomaru.

She looked at the man and before she knew it he was before her. He looked down at her and caught her eye before he swooped in and kissed her. He pulled back to see her blushing and to see Kakashi glaring at him. Something dawned on him. Kakashi was one of the rivals he had to beware of. He ignored Kakashi and looked back to Kagome.

"I was wondering if you would go to dinner with me tomorrow night?" He knew she wasn't likely to turn him down.

"Alright." She nodded to his request. She knew Itachi was scowling and watching them. "I will since you asked me so nicely."

"I'll pick you up around seven tomorrow." She nodded and he caressed her cheek before walking off. He had training to do.

"Is something wrong, Kakashi?" She looked to see him glaring at the retreating figure of Sesshomaru. "I had warned you, Kakashi."

"I hadn't realized he would be so blunt about it," Kakashi said dryly. He was displeased with the show of affection from Sesshomaru.

"At least he wasn't demanding," Kagome said as she tugged on his hand to get him moving again. "Come on." He sighed and walked with her.

* * *

Itachi wanted to snarl when he saw Taisho Sesshomaru kiss Kagome in front of everyone and then ask her out. What had upset him even more was the fact she had accepted. He had a feeling she knew he was there by her comment and he wanted to growl when he saw Kagome grab Kakashi's hand. He now knew where she was staying. She was staying with Hatake Kakashi, Konoha's resident pervert, aside from Jaraiya and maybe that man named Miroku.

He needed to do something about this as well. So he approached her. He would have to try not to be so arrogant, though that was hard. As an Uchiha, he had every right to be arrogant, being who he was and the position he held.

"Kagome," he greeted, trying to hold in his anger at the Hatake standing next to her.

"Uchiha," she greeted back coldly. He wanted to be angry at her but knew since he had pulled that stunt, she was upset with him.

"I wish to apologize for my behavior yesterday. It was uncalled for." He was trying to swallow his pride with her.

"Hn." She made her way around him but he grabbed her hand.

"Please, go on a date with me."

"I'm still upset with that stunt you pulled Uchiha and will not go on a date with you until I am no longer upset with you. Good day." She freed herself and walked off with Kakashi.

He seethed beneath the surface. He had asked nicely, but he could understand. She was sore about being defeated by him. Or should he say how he had defeated her. He would give it sometime.

* * *

He had just returned from his mission. It was long enough. He sighed and looked up to see a beautiful woman walking with Kakashi. She took his breath away and he couldn't help but stop and watch her. His team stopped and looked at him. He was pulled from his thoughts and pulled Shikamaru towards him.

"Who is that?"

"That is Higurashi Kagome. She got back a few days ago."

"That cannot possibly be her," he said.

"But it is," Shikamaru said. "I was on gate duty with Choji when she came back."

"She looks so different." He released Shikamaru and shook himself from his thoughts. He had to give the Hokage his report.

* * *

"Nice to see you are back," the Hokage said when Neji walked in. "There will be new squads for the ANBU next week. You will have to be here for that."

"Alright." He nodded, then thought back to Kagome, or the woman Shikamaru said was Kagome. "Shikamaru said Higurashi Kagome was back."

"She is." She eyed him.

"What does she look like now?"

She knew he was curious about Kagome. "Bright sapphire eyes, long silky raven hair, moon kissed skin, a sapphire crescent moon in the middle of her forehead and black slashes on various parts of her body."

"Then she has changed so much," he commented to himself.

"Yes, she has from what I have heard." She saw the look in his eyes and it was the same as so many men before him. It was a look of desire.

Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. The site I need is pissing me off so you guys got lucky with another update.


	25. Black Kitsune

_Chapter 25: Black Kitsune_

The ANBU were gathered with the Hokage. Why they were gathered was not mentioned so they sat and waited until the last of them appeared, which happened to be a head of short grayish silver hair. The Hokage stood and all talk was silenced.

"Now that we are all here, we can start." She nodded and a door opened. She knew the elders from several clans and Danzo were present. "Come in," she called and a woman entered, the Higurashi seal visible on her back but she was facing the Hokage so no one could see her face. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail then braided. There were a few that knew who this was. "We are here to test this kunoichi to see if she has what it takes to become an ANBU." There were murmurs and Itachi stared at her long and hard, as did Sesshomaru, Kakashi, and Inu no Taisho.

"It will be a series of three tests, placed before you. You will be given a score for every test and at the end, the scores will be tallied and you will be told if you pass or not." Tsunade looked around the room, looking at the ANBU present. Yes, there were less ANBU than any other rank of ninja, but they were by far, more skilled than other ninja. The first test is to find the jounin present amongst us." She nodded and closed her eyes. She took in all the chakra levels. Yes, Kakashi was an ANBU at one point in time then became a jounin, but she knew he was not the one she was talking about. She knew the Hokage had something planned with Kakashi.

"Aside from Hatake Kakashi, who was an ANBU at one point in time, the jounin is over there," she pointed off to the side. "I believe it is one Shikamaru Nara." The Hokage nodded and the boy left.

"Good. The next test is this obstacle course." The floor rumbled and a maze appeared. "You must navigate to the end. You will be timed, and there are obstacles through out the test." Kagome nodded and dropped down into the maze. She had her fingertips on the left side of the maze and took off at a sprint, going unseen. When something did happen, and she came across an obstacle, she could be seen dodging and bending and moving gracefully, her flexibility becoming apparent as she progressed. It was a good five minutes later that she exited, not a single injury seen.

"Not bad. Now you will fight three ANBU, ranging in rank." She watched the female nod. An ANBU with a bird mask appeared as the maze dropped back into the ground. She could tell it was a man. "Use any means to defeat your opponent. There will be no killing." Kagome nodded and pulled her great halberd from against the wall. A grin had lit up Bankotsu's face. There were more murmurs, most doubting if she could use such a weapon. She scowled but waited for the signal to go.

"And begin!" Kagome vanished from sight, surprising a lot of the ANBU. They did not think it possible for someone to move that quickly, and soon the bird masked figure was pressed to the ground, kunai pinning down his pant and shirt sleeves, she was straddling his waist and her halberd was pressed into his throat.

"Victory, Higurashi." She watched the woman stand and place the halberd across her back and freed the ANBU. He was one of the lowest ranking ANBU, so she figured Kagome was much stronger than him, just from her speed and the amount of time it took for her to defeat her opponent. He left, grumbling, a thin line of blood on his throat. The next ANBU to appear was a woman wearing a cat mask. She wore a skin tight black body suit complete with pink armor.

She pulled out two kunai. She would charge them with fire and lightning when the signal was given. She knew this woman was more skilled than the man she fought a minute ago, so she would have to be prepared.

"And begin!" She quickly charged the two kunai with the elements as the woman pulled the boomerang shaped weapon from her back. The woman threw it and she dodged it and when it came back she dodged it again before moving quickly. The woman threw it again and she knocked it off course with a ball of fire. It slammed into the wall and the woman drew a katana. It was shorter than an actual katana. She knew it was for close quarters combat. She easily pushed the attacks off with her kunai. She moved quickly weaving through attacks that had been thrown at her. She slashed several times and the woman tried to dodge. She was doing a good job, that is until she increased her speed.

"You only did so well because I wanted you to do well," she said and soon she stabbed the kunai surrounded by lightning into the woman. She collapsed in excruciating pain. Electricity was coursing through her body. She stopped moving and a nin moved to check on her.

"She's still alive, just unconscious," the nin said and the unconscious woman was pulled out of the arena.

She was impressed. The woman with the cat mask was almost ranked in the middle for the ANBU, so she had to wonder just how skilled this woman was. Yes, she knew the woman was capable of using multiple elements, and some in conjunction with others. She knew that this woman was already to be qualified as an ANBU so she would have one more fight for her. A man with a kitsune mask walked into the arena. If she managed to beat this man, she would earn the fox mask, though of a different color and markings. He was currently ranked first among those that were ranked at kitsune.

She looked at the man and knew what she was going to do. It would be easy enough. She would not give him a chance like she had for the woman with the neko mask. The one with the tori mask was easy enough.

"A pretty _thing_ like you doesn't belong in the ANBU," he retorted. "You should be on your back, a man like me pounding into you." Tsunade glared at him.

'Teach that insolent male his place,' Toga growled at her, his vision red with anger.

"You should not have said that," she snarled, eyes narrowed. She placed the kunai away in her pouch and rammed the halberd into the ground, causing a crack to go from where she stood and barely stopping before it reached him. "I will destroy you with my bare hands and teach you your place." She would wait for the Hokage's signal and he would be defeated in a swirl of an inferno.

"And begin!" Kagome wasted no time. She flew through the hand signs quickly before calling her technique as the man charged towards her. "Sho_netsujigoku gufu no jutsu." And the arena was engulfed in flames. The man cried out and when she felt his chakra dwindling did she stop the technique. The man was in the middle of the arena, charred, but his mask protected his face. She had a sadistic smirk on her face before approaching him.

"You will never be better than me." She stood straight. "He is not dead." The medics swarmed the charred body. He would be lucky to be able to move again. She seemed to pull something from her pouch. "Use this when you treat him. It should reduce scarring and help rebuild any damaged tissue." She threw what looked to be a canister of some sort. She saw Tsunade's expression. "I studied advanced medicine while I was away."

Tsunade never realized just how dangerous Kagome was when upset. She hoped no one ever pissed her off to the point to where she killed them, unless it was an enemy nin. A shiver went up her spine. At the male's insult she had felt another unknown chakra emerge in Kagome, and she had looked almost feral. She would have to be careful about her and make sure no one insulted her, lest she be down another ninja. She was knocked out of her thoughts by Shizune.

"Here is your ANBU mask and uniform," she said as Shizune approached. She was wary of having Shizune near Kagome.

"Arigato." She bowed politely to Shizune. Yes, she knew the Hokage and Shizune were wary of her. She opened the box to see a black kitsune mask with red markings. She scowled, especially when Toga growled out at the insult. "With all due respect, Hokage-sama."

"Is something wrong?" Her eyes narrowed on Kagome and the influx of that unknown chakra.

"This is an insult," she stated bluntly.

"It will be the rank of ANBU you are until you can prove other wise. It being the color it is means you are ranked first in that ranking. You will have to work to be up there with the tigers and Inu." She saw the utter melancholy look on her face. She was not amused by this. "Dismissed." The ANBU left. In a few days she would put out the new teams and reinstate Kakashi to ANBU status.

"You seemed to upset her with that ANBU mask," Shizune pointed out.

"I know this. I don't know why though." She sighed. She needed some sake right about now.

Sesshomaru thought about his date with Kagome the night before. She was dressed nicely in a black dress. It was simple and she was wearing black heels that wrapped around her ankles. She was wearing silver eye shadow, and pink lip gloss. Her hair was up in an elegant do. Her pale neck was exposed and her skin seemed to glow in the light of the moon. He had taken her to a nice candle lit dinner and for once, he had no biting comments, not like when he was approached by other women. He had ended the nice night with a kiss. She was a little shy, but he knew it was because she had never gone on a date before. As a ninja she knew what she had to do, as a woman, she didn't know what to do when with a man. At least he knew more about her.

He wanted another date with her. He would have to find time to find her. Yes, he knew she lived with Kakashi, but she trained a lot as well, so he knew not when she would be there and he would have to wait until he saw her again. He knew he would see her sooner or later, with her being an ANBU now. He was just going to go home.

She lay on the bed, the mask thrown on the floor. She was not a kitsune. She was an Inu and she was insulted when they gave her the mask of the kitsune. She would just make Tsunade see that she was wrong when she gave her the mask of the kitsune. She scowled and decided she needed to start dinner. Kakashi had been called to the Hokage's office so she did not know when he would be back. Hopefully he would be back by the time she was done with making dinner.

"You wanted to see me, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked as he stood in front of her.

"Yes. I am reinstating you as an ANBU." She slid forward the Inu mask. It wasn't anything special, red markings for the eyes and mouth and it was white in color. She was sure it would tick Kagome off, but Kakashi had more experience than she did. "Be here in three days with the other ANBU."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." He bowed and left. He was surprised, but he knew that now that Kagome was an ANBU, he had to protect her even more. Those missions were harder than the others.

He came into the house to see Kagome bent over in a pair of shorts. She was placing food on the table. He groaned quietly. He always had to walk in at the wrong moment.

"Excited again, I see," She said as she stood up. She looked at him and saw the Inu mask in his hand. "You were reinstated, I take it." He nodded. She approached and took the mask from his hand. She looked at it and pulled down the mask that hid his face. "I will have to work to catch up to you, Kakashi." She smiled at him and his breath caught. He leaned down and kissed her, playfully nipping at her lower lip. She opened her mouth and he swooped in, claiming what he was getting addicted to. True there was a gap in age, but for ninja it didn't matter. Their life expectancy was low.

He pulled back and looked at her slightly swollen lips. "Time to eat, Kakashi." She pushed him into a chair, placing the Inu mask gently on the counter. She sat and the two ate in a comfortable silence. He could get used to coming home to her cooking and a kiss like that.

They were standing around the Hokage's office. She would be announcing teams when everyone got here. There were a few people missing. For once they were not waiting for Kakashi. He was standing in full ANBU gear with Kagome at his side, still upset about the mask, but he chuckled at her and made the comment that she was adorable when she was upset. Of course the only ones to hear this were Sesshomaru and Itachi, standing close to them. She was glad she was wearing the mask, otherwise everyone would see the blush that dusted her cheeks.

"Now for the teams." The Hokage went through the teams. "The next team is Taisho Sesshomaru, Uchiha Itachi, Hatake Kakashi" -murmurs went through the room at the mention of his name- "Hyuga Neji, and Higurashi Kagome." Conveniently enough they were already standing in a group and there were complaints that the whole team was nothing but clan prodigies, which seemed unfair to everyone else. She continued to list teams then dismissed them. It was a good nine teams, each having five to six people on each team.

"Hn." Sesshomaru looked at her. He approached her and knew Kakashi and the others were watching him, Itachi with a glare, Hyuga with a scowl and Kakashi seemed a little cautious. "Kagome, I was wondering if you would go on another date with me?" He looked her in the eye and knew the other men had tensed.

"Alright." She nodded. She wondered what he had in mind this time.

Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. It was delayed but I have a place to live now, which was the hold up. And now I am going back to watching my 55 inch 3D television. Oh, and read, review, and ENJOY!


	26. Rough Training

Chapter 26: Rough Training

"What do you mean Kakashi isn't our sensei anymore?" Naruto asked when they went to the Hokage's office.

"He has been reinstated as an ANBU and has just been assigned a team. We are looking for a new sensei for your team," Tsunade said to the disgruntled youth. Sakura and Sasuke both had sour faces at the announcement. "You won't have any missions until we find you a new sensei, so enjoy the break while it lasts." The three left her office, not liking the news. It didn't help that the results of the chuunin exams were not out yet.

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Kagome groaned after a long day of training with her new team. It wasn't so much as hard, but it was spent with the men, namely Itachi, Sesshomaru, and Neji glaring and insulting each other. Kakashi was the only one that was not in the glaring match. Why was she placed on a team full of testosterone? She was feeling so unlucky right now. It started with Sesshomaru kissing her and thanking her for such a wonderful time in front of the others. Of course she had blushed at the attention and Neji and Itachi started to glare at him, and he glared in return. Of course Neji was the only one that had not known about her situation.

"Go take a shower, I'll cook dinner," Kakashi said, pushing her towards the stairs gently. "Hopefully it helps you feel better." She nodded and sighed as she started up the stairs. Hoping every day wasn't like that.

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Itachi scowled as he walked into the compound. He could see Sasuke staring at him, a glare on his face. He ignored him and sat at the table while his mother continued to cook dinner.

"A hard day of training?"

"Not really," he replied. "Training was spent with me, Neji, and Sesshomaru glaring and arguing."

"That is bad for a team, Itachi," she replied.

"I know, ha-hu-ei." He placed his head on the table.

"What were you arguing about?"

"We were arguing over a girl," he stated.

"A girl?"

"Higurashi Kagome," he specified.

"The little ugly girl that could use those advanced techniques?"

"She isn't ugly anymore," he stated. "She's beautiful." He slammed his head against the table. "But she won't even give me the time of day."

"What did you do to piss her off?"

She placed a cup of tea in front of him. "I challenged her to a fight and used a dirty trick to beat her before demanding she go on a date with me."

"That was where you went wrong," his mother said. "Women like romantic men. Yes, your father doesn't seem all that romantic, but he has his moments. Perhaps you should ask her on a date and take her somewhere romantic. I'm sure that would get you on her good side."

"Maybe." He slammed his head against the table again.

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Kagome scowled. They were supposed to be training but again, just like the day before, Sesshomaru, Itachi, and Neji were glaring at each other and arguing. Kakashi was off to the side with her. Her eye started to tick before she finally snapped.

"Knock it off, you three. We are supposed to be training and working on our teamwork." They looked at her before going back to arguing. She could hear Toga growling in the back of her mind at their disregard towards her, so whispered to her. She went through a few hand signs and formed a portal. From the portal she pulled a scroll from it before going through more hand signs. She threw the scroll up, it unraveling as she bit into her thumb. "Akuma no inu ga shōkan," she called, thumb running through the whole scroll. There was a poof and the ground rumbled. The three braced as the ground continued to rumble and split.

"Mistress," a loud voice boomed, smaller yips being heard.

"Restrain the three," she commanded, pointing at the three men that had been arguing before. The small dogs bounded over to them and climbed up them, knocking them over and holding them in place with claws and razor sharp teeth. "I hate repeating myself," she snapped at the three. "You will either get along and train with each other instead of arguing or I won't waste my time with any of you, do I make myself clear?" The three became silent. "Good." She looked to the dogs, only the biggest towered over the gates of Konoha. They looked fierce, yet cute to her. "You can release them now." They did so and bounded over to her. "Good job." She rubbed them behind their ears. "You are all so cute!" She hugged the giant one around his paw. "You guys can go now," she commented, patting the large paw. A small white one, small compared to the largest one, bounded over and sat in front of her, three fluffy tails wagging in varying intervals. His tongue was out in a grin, sharp ears standing at attention and liquid gold eyes looking up at her.

"He wants to stay with you. It will be easier to summon us the next time if he does stay."

"Alright." She rubbed the dog behind his ears. "You are just so soft." She hugged the dog, burying her face in his soft, fluffy fur. There were several "poof"s and the area was clear of the dogs, minus the white dog.

"Shall we start training then?" Kakashi asked.

"Yes." Kagome stood from hugging the dog.

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Itachi stumbled into the house, lazily pushing the sandals from his feet and collapsing at the table. His mother looked at him.

"Hard day?" She looked over him more carefully to see blood on him. "What happened to you? You look like you were attacked."

"Higurashi Kagome is not to be angered," he commented, head hitting the table. "We were arguing again and she summoned demon dogs to restrain us after we ignored her. Every time after that that we argued, the demon dogs would bite us, which felt like we were on fire. We just got done with practice." His head had hit the table again. This was the first time he came back injured from training.

"Maybe tomorrow you won't argue," she commented as she proceeded to set the table. "Can you go get your brother?"

"I cannot move right now, ha-hu-ei," he grumbled. He was too sore to move. It took him everything he had left to stumble home.

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Sesshomaru made it home, but he was sore and bloody. For once it wasn't a boring, unproductive training day. He now saw more of what Kagome was capable of, and she could be a bitch when you didn't take her seriously. They learned that the hard way, minus Kakashi. He was smart. He didn't argue with anyone and had not felt the fiery bite of that damn demon dog. Maybe he would keep his mouth shut tomorrow and just train with her and Kakashi and see if Neji and Itachi learned a lesson as well.

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Neji was rethinking about pursuing Kagome, if that was how she was going to treat him. But he could understand why she had done it. She had told them to stop but none of them had listened because one, she was younger than them and two, she was a female. She was probably the weakest one there as well. After all, Itachi, Sesshomaru, and Kakashi were inu while he was a tora. She was a kitsune, a middle ranked ninja. She couldn't be as skilled or powerful as them.

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Kakashi sighed as he cooked dinner. He was the only male to leave training unharmed. Kagome had still been put into a bad mood by the three so she was in the shower. Hopefully that would put her in a better mood. But he had to admit, training with the squad was starting to give him a headache. But he was getting better at cooking, without a doubt.

"It smells good, Kakashi," she said, coming in while drying her hair. She was in a pair of shorts and a tank top.

"Thank you." He looked away from her.

"You are excited again." She stopped drying her hair, the towel resting around her shoulders.

"I cannot help it," he mumbled as he sat down in his chair. "We should eat."

Kagome sat down and started to eat. She knew that her old sensei and other men were attracted to her. She had caught many of them staring when she walked through the village out of uniform. But she didn't have much time to find a husband that the elders approved of. Her attention was focused solely on her teammates. She was to marry one of them, and so far Kakashi was the only one that hadn't given her a headache. Of course she had a few great dates with Sesshomaru. She knew he wasn't completely emotionless, but it was only a front.

Neji, she knew nothing about him, and he made no effort to tell her more about himself. He didn't come off as someone interested in courting her. Itachi was arrogant and thought he'd get whatever he wanted. Because of that, she didn't want anything to do with him. She got along better with Kakashi and Sesshomaru, even if Sesshomaru found it hard to train with Itachi and Neji. She was sure it was because their dominating personalities clashed. But she would teach them that she was alpha, even if she was currently the lowest ranking of them.

Toga growled in her mind her approval at her comment. They would probably not like her, but they would respect her. She would make sure of it. Besides, she was protective of what was hers. She figured that was the influence of Toga. Inu yokai were protective of what they felt was theirs. This was her group, therefore that made them hers. Of course they didn't need to know of the inu like qualities she possessed. It would probably freak them out, and the last thing she needed was to lose the ones she was supposed to choose from.

"I'm going to sleep, Kakashi," she placed her plate in the sink and headed up the stairs. She climbed into bed and turned on to her side to sleep. She knew her headache would be gone in the morning.

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Kakashi sighed, stretching as he got out of bed. He had a wonderful, restful sleep. He just pulled on his training gear and left his room as Kagome left her room in knee length pants, bandages covering her lower legs, a fishnet shirt and a tank top. The pants and tank top were black. Her head band was tied around her neck loosely. She really did look hot.

"Come on Kakashi, time to go train." He nodded and followed her out. They made it to the training grounds, the white demon dog behind her, tongue lolling out of its mouth. It seemed to be grinning. Itachi, Sesshomaru and Neji were already there. They were not looking at each other, but they weren't bickering either, so it was better than the day before. "Well, let's get to training," Kagome said the demon dog making itself comfortable underneath a tree.

Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. I won't make excuses, but yesterday and today I was distracted by the awesomeness of Halo: Reach. Yes, I a female play Halo: Reach. If you also play Halo, just add me. That user name is killyerjoy.

Terms:

Ha-hu-ei- formal/proper way of saying mother.

Akuma no inu ga shōkan- demon dog summon.


	27. The Ten Fanged Beast

Chapter 27: The Ten Fanged Beast

They were tired. Kagome was still standing, energy coursing through her and only a few minor cuts and bruises while they had cuts everywhere and were covered in blood. Kakashi was tired and laying on the ground. Sesshomaru was on his knees, Neji was panting, face down on the ground, and Itachi was slumped back against a tree Kagome had thrown him into. The white dog was just sitting there, tongue lolling and a grin still spreading its lips.

"So now who is weak?" Kagome asked. It had all started with Neji calling her weak. What had started as a free for all had resulted in all of them versus her. She had showed them who was weak, first taking out Neji with a few quick hand signs and pressure points, then Itachi by placing him in a genjutsu then throwing an electricity charged punch into his stomach, which had sent him flying into a tree. Next had been Sesshomaru. She had taken him out with a weakened dragon hammer from her halberd. Kakashi was last and she had taken him out with a genjutsu. He had fainted from the content and was sporting a goofy grin, a blush and a bloody nose.

"Damn. I didn't know it was going to hurt that much," Sesshomaru said.

"Be glad I didn't use the full power on you," Kagome said. "The dragon hammer can kill someone with a single strike."

"How are you not tired?" Neji asked.

"It's called constant training," she mocked. "I'm used to training all day, only stopping to eat and sleep." She picked up her discarded halberd and approached Kakashi, whom was still unconscious. She did a few hand signs before poking Kakashi in the side. He jumped up and spun around to see Kagome kneeling where he once was laying. "I thought that would wake you up."

"Did you have to do that?" He was wiping the blood from his nose.

"Would you prefer I left you here all day?" She stood. The white demon dog walked up to her and sat so she could rub behind his ears. She did so and his eyes closed and he seemed to be in pure ecstasy. "Come on boy, let's go home." It walked at her side as the other four still laid there.

"Nice going, Neji," Itachi said. "You just had to piss her off by calling her weak."

"I thought she was weak because of her rank." He rolled over onto his back.

"Tsunade-san only gave her that rank because of her lack of experience," Kakashi said. "She is stronger than her rank suggests."

"How was I supposed to know? She's only done one major mission since becoming an ANBU and that was with Kakashi's help," Neji remarked.

"Actually, she helped me," Kakashi said. "The village doesn't know it, but Orochimaru is dead."

"But how?" Neji questioned.

"Some years ago, there was a group of us that was sent to finish him off," Itachi said. "It had turned out he had attacked Kagome while she was away training. I wasn't there but Tsunade had said she had greatly weakened Orochimaru."

"I was there," Sesshomaru said. "He had almost captured her to use her for breeding. But before he could reach her, she had vanished and reappeared. There was a gold light around her, and her chakra had been replenished completely. She had fought him and nearly killed him but he had fled with Kabuto."

"She almost killed a sannin?" Neji asked.

"Yes. She made it possible to kill him," Kakashi said. "She was never weak to begin with. Sarutobi had wanted to place her directly into the ANBU training course without having to go through the academy. She would have been an ANBU by the time she was ten if her father had placed her in program when the Hokage had suggested it." Neji looked at him. "I suggest you wipe that whole "women are weak" from your mind now before it gets you killed."

..

Tsunade looked through Kagome's record. She had never gone to the hospital for anything beyond routine shots. She had been top her class, acing every test in the academy. It had a report of her being raped by Higurashi Naraku and being both placed on Kakashi's team and in his care until she left for her four years of training. It had Sesshomaru's periodic reports, including the one where she was almost kidnapped by Orochimaru. But nothing that could possibly explain that gold light and the almost feral look in her eyes at the insult from the male and the assigning of the kitsune mask. He would have to ask her parents.

..

She and her husband had received a summons to the Hokage's office. She was nervous of what this could mean. The old Hokage had known but he had not thought any differently about Kagome. He had not written it down for fear of someone getting a hold of the information. The secret had died with Sarutobi. Her own husband didn't know, but Kagome knew because it had told her.

"You wanted to see us, Hokage?" Her husband asked.

"I did." She looked serious. "I have many questions about your daughter. I had gone through her record, but nothing to hint at what that gold chakra was, or why she heals so quickly. Nothing that could explain her behavior." The clan leader looked surprised, like this was the first he had heard about it. But his wife, Tsunade noticed, looked like she was hiding something. "Why is that?" Her eyes locked with her own.

She lowered her head. She didn't know how to explain this. It could change everything, including her own husband's view of their daughter. She had shed a few tears for her daughter. There was no telling what could happen after her husband and the Hokage found out.

"Kagome was born with the soul of a demon inhabiting her body. For what reason it entered her is not known to me or to Sarutobi. Kagome knows but has not said anything about it to anyone."

"Why have you not told me?" He questioned his wife.

"You already thought her weak. What then?" She looked her husband in the eye. "What would you have done then? What would have the elders done? Can you answer me that? What if the village had found out? They would have treated her like the Uzamaki kid. I didn't want that for her."

"Mother," a voice whispered. They turned to see Kagome entering with a white dog and her team several yards behind her.

"Kagome. My precious Kagome." She ran to her daughter and hugged her, tears filling her eyes even more. "I did not want to tell them of the demon soul living within your body."

Their eyes widened at that. They had not known that she held the soul of a demon in her body. Itachi and Neji seemed to take several steps back away from them. Kakashi had a sad look in his eyes. He didn't know why she would not tell him. But she must have had a good reason for not saying anything.

"It's alright kaasan." She patted her mother's back, a sad smile on her lips and in her eyes. "I think it is time that I explained a few things anyways." She pulled away from her mother. "What mother says is true. I was born with the soul of a demon in my body. He has helped me a lot and has explained why he had entered my body."

"You are sure it is a him?" Tsunade asked.

"Yes. His name is Toga, the ten fanged beast and he was once an inu yokai general. He was more powerful than the kyuubi no Yoko." She seemed to smile in pride at his rumbled pleasure. They could see a flux of gold in her barely visible chakra. "He had saved my life before I was even born."

"Kagome?" Her mother looked at her questionably.

"When I was conceived I did not have a complete soul. Chances were I would have died during child birth." Her mother gasped and cried even more. "Toga entered my still developing body and ensured I would live while he fell dormant, until I started my training in the academy. He had guided me, whispered techniques and reasons to me, ensuring I would get stronger. When Orochimaru attacked, I had unlocked his power, and have been granted free access to it with no repercussions. Because of him my power grew and my healing ability had increased. It is why my chakra does not deplete quickly." She sighed.

"When I had met Kikyo for the first time, she had noticed his presence but could not really understand. It was when I met her that I found out the reason for my incomplete soul. Kikyo had been guarding the other half of my soul. Midoriko is my incarnate. I had placed the Shikon no tama forcefully back into my body, where it dissolved and Midoriko was put to rest, fully reincarnating. When my human soul had become whole again, my power had increased again. I have two souls living in one body. Toga doesn't conflict with my other soul, instead lending unfounded wisdom to myself and my human soul." She turned to Kakashi, sensing his sorrow. "I wanted to tell you, Kakashi, but I didn't want anything to change between us."

"Nothing would have changed," he commented. He smiled lightly at her. She smiled back at him.

"You're a monster," Neji said, glaring at her. "To even think I was interested in you disgusts me."

"Neji," Tsunade said firmly.

"You are nothing but a monster, a murderer. That pretty face only hides your true nature."

"Dog demons are noble creatures," Kagome said coldly, her anger showing in eyes that glowed sapphire. "They protected what they saw as theirs and only killed those that threatened what was theirs. They take care of their own and are power and graceful. They are playful by nature but anger them and you will regret it. It would be wise of you to think before you said anything, Hyuga." She turned to her father, her eyes losing it's glow. "I have narrowed it down, father. I will choose between Hatake Kakashi and Taisho Sesshomaru."

"Alright." He nodded and looked at his daughter. Would he have treated her differently if he had known sooner? He did not think her a monster. She was powerful and graceful. He could only treat her with more respect. Most that housed demon spirits were driven insane, but she was sane, even if her behavior was like that of a dog sometimes. He could not be upset with his wife. She was only trying to protect their daughter. "I do not think of you any differently, Kagome. You have opened my eyes to how strong you and Kikyo are." She nodded. "I can only hope you forgive me for how I treated you in the past."

"I understand why you did it," she commented. "I do not hold it against you."

"Enough," Tsunade said. "Your comments were uncalled for, Neji. I advise that none of this leaves this room, understood?" There were nods all around. "Now, you all can leave." They turned to head out.

"Tsunade-sama, please do not write anything you have learned today down," Kagome's mother requested. "We cannot risk this information following into anyone's hands." Tsunade nodded and they left the office. Tsunade slammed her head in the desk. That was the last thing she needed to learn. She had another demon vessel in the village, but it would explain her anger at being given a kitsune mask. They hated getting called the other species.

..

Kakashi and Kagome had made it home, the white demon dog just behind them. It had made itself at home on the couch. It curled up and went to sleep as Kagome started on dinner. Kakashi went to shower while he waited for the food to be done. He was wondering what she was cooking tonight. She had been placed in a better mood after they had lost to her as a group. But there was no telling her mood after she had to tell them she had two souls residing in her body. He held nothing but respect and admiration from her. He had saw Itachi and Neji step away from her when the words had left her mother's mouth. Sesshomaru never stepped away, just kept his eyes on her the whole time. He didn't have a look of disgust on his face like the Uchiha and the Hyuga did. No, he had a strange look on his face, a cross between desire and respect. He would just have to play his cards right.

Author's Note: Here is the next chapter. It took a while to come up with, but I have an idea for the next chapter, so bare with me on this one. I will try to update my other stories soon. But as always, read, review, and ENJOY!


	28. Author's Note

Author's Note:

Sorry to all my readers, but this is not an update. My laptop has decided to repeatedly blue screen, and basically crash. This happened last night and I just bought a new laptop to replace it, so please be patient while I try to recover the files from my old laptop. As soon as I do that I will finish up a few chapters I have been working on. I will also, possibly save a copy of everything externally, just in case this happens again. Thanks for being so patient and understanding. I will try to cme up with another story to make up for the delay.


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